Bhaker ends Indian shooting's 12-year Olympic drought with historic bronze

A resilient Manu Bhaker became the first Indian woman shooter to claim an Olympic medal by snaring a bronze in the 10m air pistol event here on Sunday, a triumph that opened the country’s account in the Paris Games and ended a 12-year wait for its muchhyped shooters.

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Rifle shooters Ramita Jindal and Arjun Babuta further lifted the spirits of the contingent at the scenic range, located nearly 300km away from Paris, by securing final spots in the 10m air rifle women’s and men’s event respectively to keep India in the hunt for more medals.

The scene here was in complete contrast to the Tokyo Olympics three years back when only 10m air pistol shooter Saurabh Chaudhary, among the 15 who had gone from India, made it to the final, only to fade into oblivion in the ensuing years.

Bhaker was part of that team and had gone home in tears after drawing a blank.