“Best news of the day for India” - Fans react as Manu Bhaker qualifies for the gold medal match

Indian shooting star Manu Bhaker has rekindled hope for a nation eagerly awaiting its first medal at the Paris Olympics 2024. The 21-year-old shooter has qualified for the gold medal match in the women's 10m air pistol event, lifting the spirits of fans who have faced a string of disappointments in other events.

On Saturday, July 27, the first day of the Paris Olympics, Bhaker delivered a remarkable performance, scoring 580 points with 27 inner 10s (Xs). This placed her third in the qualification round, just behind Veronika Major of Hungary (582 points with 22 Xs) and South Korea’s Oh Ye Jin ( 582 points with 20 Xs). Her 27 Xs (inner 10s) were the most among the 44 shooters in the qualification.

The top eight shooters from the qualification round advanced to the finals, where they will compete for the coveted gold, silver, and bronze medals in an elimination format.

Disappointments in the mixed team 10m air rifle event and the men's 10m air pistol qualifications had dampened spirits, but Bhaker's performance has brought a renewed sense of optimism among the fans.

“MANU BHAKER INTO FINALS….In the 10m Air Pistol, Manu has qualified into the final. Best news of the day for India in Paris,” wrote a fan.

“Medal loading," commented one user with hopes of a medal from Manu Bhaker.

“Last Olympic, Manu missed her Medal due to malfunctioning of pistol. Hope she bring a medal tomorrow!" wrote a fan highlighting Manu Bhaker's comeback at the Paris Olympics 2024.

“580 score was great, could anticipate an Olympic medal 🏅 in the final round 😊" one user wrote.

Paris Olympics 2024: Women’s 10m air pistol shooting qualification round results

Veronika Major (Hungary) 582-22x
Oh Ye Jin (South Korea) 582-20x
Manu Bhaker (India) 580-27x
Trinh Thu Vinh (Vietnam) 578-26x
Kim Yeji (South Korea) 578-16x
Li Xue (China) 577-23x
Sevval Ilayda Tarhan (Turkey) 577-15x
Jiang Ranxin (China) 577-13x
Elmira Karapetyan (Armenia) 576-14x
Zorana Arunovic (Serbia) 575-19x
Irina Yunusmetova (Kazakhstan) 574-19x
Hala Elgohari (Egypt) 574-15x
Heng Yu Liu (Chinese Taipei) 573-20x
Klaudia Bres (Poland) 573-14x
Rhythm Sangwan (India) 573-14x
Antoaneta Kostadinova (Bulgaria) 573-14x
Alejandra Zavala Vazquez (Mexico) 573-13x
Camille Jedrzejewski (France) 573-12x
Olena Kostevych (Ukraine) 572-19x
Doreen Vennekamp (Germany) 572-12x
Tanyaporn Prucksakorn (Thailand) 571-19x
Haniyeh Rostamiyan (Iran) 571-16x
Agate Rasmane (Latvia) 570-16x
Katelyn Morgan Abeln (USA) 570-16x
Alexis Lagan (USA) 570-15x
Andrea Perez Pena (Ecuador) 569-16x
Sylvia Steiner (Austria) 569-14x
Anna Dulce (Republic of Moldova) 569-10x
Christina Moschi (Greece) 569-7x
Josefin Eder (Germany) 567-11x
Kishmala Talat (Pakistan) 567-10x
Xiu Hong Teh (Singapore) 567-8x
Sara Rahel Fabian (Hungary) 566-14x
Olfa Charni (Tunisia) 565-10x
Ai Wen Yu (Chinese Taipei) 564-18x
Kamonlak Saencha (Thailand) 564-14x
Elena Galiabovitch (Australia) 564-12x
Nino Salukvadze (Georgia) 562-9x
Laina Perez (Cuba) 560-13x
Yasameen Al Raimi (Yemen) 559-9x
Diana Durango Flores (Ecuador) 558-9x
Simal Yilmaz (Turkey) 557-6x
Manjola Konini (Albania) 549-11x
Anna Korakaki (Greece) 304-6x

About the author

Meeth is an Indian Sports journalist at Sportskeeda with an experience of around 3 years. An MBA degree holder in Sports Management from Symbiosis School of Sports Sciences, he has previously worked with the likes of Sportz Interactive, Gujarat Titans and Sharjah Warriors, along with sports websites such as FirstSportz, CricAngel, Women's CricInsight, Predict22 and SK Golf.

Meeth, who has earlier played cricket at the West Zone level and chess at district level, got inspired to cover Indian sports due to his love for the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL). He is a huge admirer of Anup Kumar and Fazel Atrachali, and feels Shabeer Bapu's match-winning raid in the PKL 2 final left a lasting impact on him.

He considers covering PKL for Sportskeeda, and being the admin of an Indian Premier League (IPL) team's official social media account as some of his top professional achievements. He has also interviewed players such as Ramkumar Ramnathan, Jeevan N, Sriram Balaji, Sowjanya Bavisetti, along with Cricket maestro Chris Gayle.

Meeth feels his ability to understand a new sport quickly is something that differentiates him from other journalists. To ensure accuracy, he conducts in-depth research, and cross verifies information from multiple sources.

In his spare time, he likes to play either cricket or kabaddi with his friends, and play FIFA/FC.

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Edited by Tejas Rathi