Sports News
Shooting World Cup: 16-year-old Manu Bhaker wins gold medal on final shot
Day after 17-year-old Mehuli Ghosh won a medal for India at the ISSF World Cup in Mexico, 16-year-old Manu Bhaker won gold in 10m Air Pistol event.
India took their tally to five medals at the ISSF World Cup in Guadalajara (Mexico), with 16-year-old Manu Bhaker stealing limelight on the second day of the competition.
To make things even more interesting, she bagged the gold medal on her final shot in the 10m Air Pistol event. Making her international debut, Bhaker fought off competition by an experienced pack to eventually take gold with an incredible comeback.
Hometown favourite Alejandra Zavala Vazquez stood on 1.9 point advantage with two shots to go and that is where Bhaker took over. As Vazquez fired twice inside the 8th ring, Bhaker produced 8.5 to reduce the deficit before clinching the yellow metal with a 10.6.
With her gold medal, India’s tally at the ISSF World Cup escelated to five – two golds — both won in the Air Pistol individual events — and three bronzes.
India missed out on a double podium finish when Bhaker’s teammate Yashaswini Singh Deswal (20) also produced her best World Cup placement, scoring 196.1 points to finish fourth in her first final appearance.
Ravi Kumar added to India’s medal tally with a bronze medal in the Air Rifle event. The 28-year-old Ravi scored 226.4 points for the bronze medal to secure his World Cup medal.
He fought off the challenge of 30-year-old teammate Deepak Kumar who concluded in 4th place with 205.8 points. They were tied at the 20th-shot mark, and it needed an additional shoot-off for Ravi to prevail.
