Manu Bhaker wins air pistol gold at Nationals
Olympian Manu Bhaker asserted her class by winning the women’s air pistol gold in the 64th National shooting championship at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad.
After qualifying in the fifth place with 576, the 19-year-old Manu dominated the final, except when the eventual silver medallist Shri Nivetha briefly snatched the lead. It was commendable composure by Manu as she handled the 24-shot final with equanimity despite eight 9s and a 7.9. Eventually, she beat Shri Nivetha by 1.7 points for the gold.
Qualification topper Esha Singh (5■2) grappled with a string of 9s and ■s that pulled her to the bronze medal.
However, Esha regrouped her shooting nicely to capture both the junior and youth gold medals later to emphasise her phenomenal ability to stay focused through three finals. It may be mentioned that the women’s field had 4■3 shooters, the juniors had 3■1 and the youth section featured 4■9.
Such a vibrant performance was nothing new for the 16-year-old Esha, as she had announced herself to the country by sweeping the women’s, junior and youth gold medals as a 13-year-old in the National championship in Thiruvananthapuram.