PARIS: History is shadowing her right from the day she started her qualification round in the 10m air pistol a week ago. On Friday, she has a tryst with history again. The focus is on Manu Bhaker at the shooting ranges in Chateauroux once again. She is on the cusp of glory that will propel her as the greatest Indian athlete. A third medal at the Olympics, a feat that no Indian ever attempted before. Not even in their dreams.
What will make the win, if she finishes in the top three on Saturday, even more incredible is the fact she has won two medals already. She entered her third final, again first shooter to do so in one Olympics. Maintaining such levels of concentration in an Olympics doesn’t seem human. Yet, she has. Going by the qualification round, where she hit the 10s in such precision, she would start as one of the favourites in the final of the 25m pistol.
For Manu, this is the kind of performance that could have silenced her critics forever. She cried after almost every qualification round — she did qualify in all of the events she entered — and it will be cathartic if she can win medals in all the events she has entered. Saturday would be one such day.
On the other hand, the Indian men’s hockey team has also caused a major upset in the group game against Australia. They have beaten a team that they have not won against in the last 52 years. India 2-3 Australia.
The big news was saved for later in the day when Lakhsya Sen entered the semifinals of the men’s singles badminton. In a sport that has fetched a medal in each Olympic since London, a blank would have taken the sport to depths of frustration. Lakshya’s win was tenacious and tactical against Chou Tien-chen of Chinese Taipei.
However, it was deja vu at Invalides, the venue for archery. Once again, the archery team faltered in the bronze medal play-off. In the mixed event, the pair of Ankita Bhakat and Dhiraj Bommadevara lost to USA’s Brady Ellison and Casey Kaufhold 6-2 despite having a stellar start to the day. “It's very disappointing when you finish one step short of a medal. But the way we're looking at it is that finishing fourth, which is a first in Indian archery, is a big improvement,” said Dhiraj.