Who is Manu Bhaker? Age, Records, Biography, Medals, Olympic performances

<a href='https://www.sportskeeda.com/player/manu-bhaker' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer'>Manu Bhaker</a> was awarded the BBC Emerging Player of the Year award in 2021
Manu Bhaker was awarded the BBC Emerging Player of the Year award in 2021

Manu Bhaker's rise in the sport of shooting has been meteoric, with her really coming into prominence with impressive performances at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the ISSF World Cup. Let's find out more about the 19-year-old 2021 BBC Emerging Player of the Year, who is one of India's medal prospects at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

When was Manu Bhaker born?

Born in 2002, in Haryana's Jhajjar district, Bhaker did not take up the sport of shooting until she was 14 years old. After discovering her ability to take a decent shot or two at her school's shooting range, Bhaker's father, an engineer in the merchant navy, spent Rs 1,50,000 on shooting equipment to allow her to take up the sport.

Medals and achievements

In no time Manu Bhaker began dominating the sport at the national level. in 2017, Bhaker won nine medals at the national games, and broke the scoring record set by Heena Sidhu with a score of 242.3 in the 10m air pistol event.

Manu Bhaker broke onto the world stage during the 2018 ISSF World Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico. She contested the 10m air pistol team and mixed team events and won gold in both.

Manu Bhaker became the first Indian woman to win a medal at Youth Olympics
Manu Bhaker became the first Indian woman to win a medal at Youth Olympics

Bhaker also managed to secure two gold medals at the 2018 Junior World Cup in Sydney, and another at the same event in Suhl.

However, her most notable achievement came later that year when she clinched the gold medal in the 10m air pistol event at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games with a total score of 240.9, creating a new games record in the process.

In the same year, Bhaker became the first female athlete from India to win a medal at the Youth Olympics.

Her good run continued in 2019 as she clinched the gold medal at the ISSF World Cup Final in Putian, China. She also won a silver medal at the 2021 ISSF World Cup in New Delhi in 2021.

If Manu Bhaker's individual record in pistol shooting can be termed good, then her record in the mixed team event has to be called impeccable. The teenage sensation from Haryana has managed six gold medals at the ISSF World Cups so far. Her partnership with Saurabh Chaudhary has proved to be fruitful for India. Their good run continued even in 2021 as they won a gold at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi and a silver in the recently concluded ISSF World Cup in Osijek, Croatia.

Earnings

Manu Bhaker is part of the Government of India's Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), which aims to provide support for India's prospective medal contenders. As a part of this scheme, she earns Rs 50,000 per month.

Olympics record

Tokyo Olympics 2020 will mark Bhaker's first appearance at an Olympics. She qualified for the games by finishing fourth in the ISSF World Cup in Munich in 2019.

Having won accolades for India in every major global shooting event, Bhaker is expected to deliver a shooting medal at this year's Olympics as well, in both - the individual and mixed team events.

Also read - Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary - India's young medal hopefuls at the Tokyo Olympics

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Edited by S Chowdhury