Manu Bhaker misses a historic medal hat-trick but still...?
Manu Bhaker just missed the opportunity to become the first athlete from india to win three individual Olympic medals, and that too at the same Games, but she left her mark on the annals of indian sports history. She finished fourth in the women's 25m pistol final on saturday at the Chateauroux shooting range after losing to Veronika Major of hungary in a shoot-off. After defeating Frenchman Camille Jedrzejewski in a shoot-off, Jiin Yang of Korea took home the gold. Jedrzejewski came in second and won the silver medal. The 22-year-old indian placed fourth with a total of, making history as the country's first athlete to win two medals in a single quadrennial showcase.
Manu has won the 10m women's air pistol bronze and the 10m air pistol mixed team bronze teaming with Sarabjot Singh previously. She has noticed a noticeable improvement in her shooting since mending her relationship with famed former shooter-turned-coach Jaspal Rana.
Manu Bhaker's last 25-meter pistol
After the first series, manu entered the final in sixth place, having made only two of her first five shots. Jedrzejewski, Rostamiyan, and Trinh, the early leaders, each scored four hits, raising the bar. manu made great progress in her second series, hitting four targets and finishing in fourth place. With eight hits at this point, Yang was leading the competition, closely followed by Trinh and Rostamiyan, both with seven hits. With six hits, manu put herself in striking distance of the leaders.
Manu continued to perform well in the seventh series, hitting four goals. Her lead was cut to just one point when Yang made three, while Jedrzejewski equaled her effort. Yang led the standings with 28 points, followed by manu and Jedrzejewski, who tied for second place with 27, and Major, who finished fourth with 26. Nevertheless, manu and Major, who were tied at 28 points, went to a shootout after the eighth series ended with a score of two out of five. manu made two mistakes despite her best attempts, while Major only made one, which allowed Bhaker to place fourth. Following the accurate and quick rounds in the 25-meter pistol event, manu secured the second place with an incredible 592 points in the qualification round.
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