Asian Games 2018 | Manu Bhaker seeks forgiveness for her medal-less show

The 16-year-old Jhajjhar girl brought home as many as nine gold medals over the last two years in both the junior and senior categories, including World Cup and Commonwealth Games gold. The Indian shooting fraternity started believing in the young sensation considering her uncanny knack to gun down gold every time she stepped up. Ahead of the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, the whole nation had already projected Manu as a sure-shot medal winner.

However, the Asian Games came as a rude shock for her. It’s not that she did not perform well in the competition. Barring the mixed event, where she could not reach the finals, Manu shot exceptionally well in the qualification rounds of 25m air pistol and 10m air pistol to enter the two finals with a Games record score. But the pressure and burden got better of her as she finished sixth in 25m air pistol and fifth in 10m air pistol.

Speaking of her performance, Manu said the expectations were high but she could not perform well. She further apologized for a medal-less show and said she will come back stronger in the next edition.

“Expectations were obvious given my previous record and I tried my best to fulfill them. Sadly, I couldn’t bring a medal for the country. I am sorry for that. But I will try again and hopefully you will soon see me back among medals,” Manu told TOI from Palembang.

However, Manu did not feel disheartened as she accepted the defeat in a positive way and said she will become mentally stronger.

“I need to control myself and my emotions during the final. Shooting is all about the mind and I need to prepare for that accordingly for big tournaments ahead. I need to work on these things. My qualification scores were satisfying but final results were not. However, I won’t think much about it and will look forward to the World Championships,” she added.