Ace Indian shooter Manu Bhaker narrowly missed out on securing her 3rd and India's 4th on Saturday (August 3rd, 2024) in the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympics. The final of the women's 25m Air Pistol event final saw Bhaker secure 28 points and finish 4th. As a result, India's medal tally remains only 3 thus far and are languishing at the 49th spot.
The nation held high hopes from Bhaker, who had already created history this year by clinching a couple of Bronze. The youngster stood 2nd in the qualification round to compete in the final of the women's 25m shooting event; however, she came 4th in the decider. The 22-year-old finished with 28 points in the eight-women final to miss out on a historic 3rd Olympic medal.
South Korea's Jin Yang struck gold, while France's Camille Jedrzejewski and Hungary's Veronika Major finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively.
"I was trying my best to keep calm" - Manu Bhaker
Bhaker reflected on the narrow loss, claiming that the nerves got the better of her despite trying her best to control it. She said, as quoted by IANS:
"I was very nervous in the final. Although I was trying on each shot things did not turn out to be very good for me. There's always a next time and I'm already looking forward to the next one. I was trying my best to keep calm and try to do my best but that was not enough. I'm glad that I've won two medals but the fourth place is not a very good place to be in."
