ISSF World Cup | 16-year old Manu Bhaker wins 10m Air Pistol gold on her final shot

Indian teenager Manu Bhaker had only recently secured a place for the Youth Olympic Games scheduled for October 2018 in Buenos Aires before heading out to Mexico. Making her International debut at the ISSF World Cup she saw herself being a part of the Indian contingent alongside the likes of Yashaswini Singh Deswal, Ravi Kumar and others. And, the young shooter managed to pull off a stunning win in her first International outing itself.

“I am extremely happy at winning Gold, especially as this is my first World Cup. I look forward to perform even better in upcoming competitions,” after winning the medal, Manu Bhaker said after winning the gold.

Local favourite Alejandra Zavala Vazquez was on a 1.9 point advantage with two shots to go when Bhaker stepped in. After Vazquez fired twice inside the 8th ring, Bhaker produced 8.5 to reduce the difference between the two before she eventually secured the gold as she fired 10.6 on her final shot.

After Bhaker’s gold, the Indian contingent took their medal tally in the tournament to a total of five medals, which included two gold medals and three bronze medals. Team India narrowly missed out on a double podium finish as Bhaker’s teammate Yashaswini Singh Deswal, aged 20, Deswal scored 196.1 points finishing fourth.

“This is a dream start. The young guns and future of Indian shooting are firing on all cylinders and let us only hope that these are signs of even better things to come in the near future. Manu showed excellent composure for one so young and Ravi’s consistency over the past year or so has also been heartening to watch. We are now hungry for more.,” National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) president Raninder Singh said to PTI.