“Proud and a lot of gratitude” Manu Bhaker revels in glory after winning second bronze medal at Paris Olympics 2024

Manu Bhaker, who scripted history by becoming the first Indian to win two medals at the Olympics, said she is proud and full of gratitude after achieving the mammoth feat.

Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh won the bronze medal in the 10m Air Pistol mixed team event at the ongoing Paris Olympics 2024, on Tuesday. The Indian pair beat South Korea 16-10 in the bronze medal match to win the medal.

This is Manu Bhaker’s second Olympic medal in the Paris Olympics after having won a bronze medal in the women’s 10m Air Pistol event. Sarabjot won his first Olympic medal in his debut appearance at the quadrennial Games.

Speaking to the official broadcasters after the win, Manu said she was proud and thanked everyone for their blessings and love. “I feel really proud and have a lot of gratitude. Thank you so much for all the blessings and love. We can only control what is in our hands. I had a chat with my father regarding this before coming here and decided we should keep fighting till the last shot,” she said.

Sarabjot said although the game was tough, he was happy to emerge victorious. “It feels great. The game was tough, but we were glad we could do it. There was a lot of pressure, but the crowd was great,” he said.

The Indian pair started on a slow note and lost the first series as South Korea led 2-0. Sarabjot’s first shot was only 8.6 while Manu scored 10.2 as India got to 18.8. The Koreans scored 20.5 to take the lead.

Manu and Sarabjot then upped the ante to win the next two series to take a slender lead at 4-2 and were soon unstoppable as they took an 8-2 lead after five series.

The next three series saw Korea winning two and India winning one and the scoreline read 10-6 in favour of India.

Manu was extremely consistent in the 13 rounds that they played and scored just three shots below the 10-point mark.