India at Olympics 2021: Manu Bhaker crosses one hurdle, one more to go to make the cut for women's 25m pistol final 

India's Manu Bhaker finished fifth in the first qualification stage of the women's 25 meters pistol event at the Tokyo Olympic Games on Thursday. The 19-year-old Indian shooter from Haryana shot a series of 97, 97, 98 for an aggregate total of 292 out of 300.

Rahi Sarnobat, another Indian shooter in the field, shot 287 to finish 25th in the first qualification stage.

The 60-shot competition is divided into two stages—precision and rapid. At each qualification stage, the shooters have to shoot 30 shots. After the qualification round, the top eight advanced into the final, which is a 50 shot match.

Taking into account Manu’s performance on Thursday, all she has to do is sustain her efforts at the rapid stage on Friday, to stay in the top eight who will qualify for the final.

This is one last chance for Manu to win a medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games. She failed to enter the final of the women's 10m air pistol individual event and the mixed team 10m air pistol competition.

For Rahi, the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games champion, it will be a challenging task to make the cut for the final. There are 10 shooters who have an identical score of 287 including Rahi.

Manu Bhaker will have to stay calm to qualify for the final of the women's 25m pistol final

Even Manu will have to stay calm in the second qualification stage on Friday. The field is highly competitive.There are three shooters who have similar scores as Manu, including Ukraine's Olena Kustevych in the first stage of qualification. Olena finished seventh in the first stage.

Vitalina Batsarashkina, representing the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), also shot 292. She is fourth right now. Last Sunday, Vitalina won gold in the women’s 10m air pistol individual event and will be looking ahead to adding another medal to her kitty.

Six shooters in the precision stage shot 291 out of 300. Any lapse in the part of the leading eight shooters at the rapid stage on Friday would change the final line-up for the medal round.

Serbia’s Zorana Arunovic shot 296 to stay atop the table. Anna Korakakis, the defending champion from Greece, shot 294. She is second behind the Serbian shooter. Bulgaria's Antoaneta Kostadinova was third with a score of 293.