Commonwealth Games 2018: Was gold medallist Manu Bhaker humiliated in Haryana?

Teenage shooting star Manu Bhaker, who recently did the country proud at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, was reportedly 'humiliated' at her own felicitation ceremony held in Haryana on Tuesday. Visuals of the incident that were doing the rounds, suggested that the 16-year-old was made to sit on the ground during the ceremony.

Initially, Bhaker was seen sitting on a chair, adorned with garlands, but soon she apparently had to vacate the chair and sit on the ground when more VVIPs arrived for the ceremony.

Bhaker, before and after the dignitaries came in

While the whole incident sparked an uproar, with several questioning if this was how we treated our sporting champions, Bhaker's father confirmed to Sportskeeda that nothing of that sort had happened and it was Bhaker only who willingly gave up her seat in an act of respect.

"Nothing like that happened," said Ram Kishan Bhaker. "Whatever the reports suggested are false. At first, there weren't too many people, so, Manu was sitting on a chair. But when the dignitaries and the VVIPs started coming in, obviously there wasn't enough space for all. On seeing that I had to give up my seat, Manu came and told me, 'Why will you stand? You sit on the chair, I'll stand.'"

"It was only to show respect that she gave up her seat. She was not forced or even asked to do that," he added.

Earlier this month, Bhaker underlined her immense potential in Gold Coast when she won the gold medal in women's 10m air pistol, nudging ahead of seasoned campaigner Heena Sidhu who had to be content with the silver. The youngster held her own against the older and more experienced shooters, as she shot a total of 240.9, a new Commonwealth Games record.

Bhaker had been in a terrific run of form heading into the Commonwealth Games. She had bagged two gold medals at the ISSF Senior World Cup in Guadalajara and the ISSF Junior World Cup in Sydney earlier in March.