CWG 2018 | Manu Bhaker wins gold while Heena Sidhu clinches silver

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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ndia’s prodigious daughter, 16-year-old Manu Bhaker, continued to stun the shooting world with her sheer talent as she comprehensively won the gold in the 10 m Air Pistol event. Her compatriot Heena Sidhu finished runners-up but not before completing a dramatic comeback in elimination stages.

India finally managed to move away from their weightlifting dominance at the CWG as shooter Manu Bhaker clinched the gold medal in the 10m air pistol event. The 16-year-old, who has taken the world by storm since winning a silver medal at the 2017 Asian Junior Championships, continued her glorious run on the big stage. After creating a Commonwealth Games qualifying record 388, she ended the first stage with scores of 50.9 and 101.5 in the early stages, which was clearly superior to all the six other shooters participating in the event. In the elimination stages too, Bhaker led the table with scores of 121.0, 141.5, 159.5, 180.2, 201.7, 220.7 and 240.9, with the last one creating a Games record.

However, Sidhu’s journey was far from convincing and it appeared that the veteran shooter would be leaving the venue without a medal. She was seen struggling in the early stages with scores of 46.1 and 95.5m which were well lower than every other competitor barring Pakistan’s Mehwish Farhan.

But, it was at the elimination stage that the former World No.1 really showcased her ability, where she edged out defending Champion Shun Xie Teo 134.9 to 133.9. However,  the crunch time for the Indian was not quite done as it took two sub par shots, 9.1 and 9.2, from Xui Hong Teh to help Sidhu escape elimination by a margin of 0.5. As the pressure increased other players started faltering and Sidhu started shooting like the seasoned pro that she is. Not only did she avoid elimination in the next round but also managed to gain a few places to land in the silver medal spot. With two shots of 10.1, the veteran Indian ensured that India would take the top two spots in the event. 

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