CHENNAI: It was a battle of nerves as some of the elite women pistol shooters were engaged in a high-stakes final at the Egypt International Olympic City in Cairo, Egypt on Monday.
Indians Manu Bhaker and Esha Singh were also training their guns as they chased for a podium finish. It was understandably a bit chaotic as all the finalists in the women's 10m air pistol of the ongoing ISSF World Championship had their moments of good scores and some average returns. With every shot, the shooters were going up and down in the overall standings and it was a fascinating watch. Manu is no stranger to a demanding situation like this and has won medals aplenty in her career so far. Last year, she had finally gotten her hands on the coveted Olympic medal and this was her chance to follow that up with her first senior individual medal at the World Championships. Likewise, Esha is also not shy of experience having won medals galore at the international stage just like Manu.
Given the volatile circumstances, Manu, with a couple of high 10s in the first three shots, had done just enough to be one of the early contenders for a podium finish. Esha, on the other hand, was flirting with elimination after a series of shots below 10. But she had followed that up with some good scores to stay afloat. Tokyo Games bronze medallist Jiang Ranxin, in the meantime, after some ordinary shooting, was the first to be eliminated.
On the other hand, Manu had climbed atop the standings after some high 10s in the 12th and 13th shots.
But within seconds, Manu's world came tumbling down. It was a rare blip. A complete shocker as Manu hit just 8.8 to slip to bottom of the standings. There was no turning back. From gold contention, she was eliminated. It was shooting in a nutshell.
Esha also suffered a similar fate. After getting back contention with some impressive scores of 10.6 and 10.7, Esha returned with 8.4 and that meant it was all over for the two Indians, who have arguably been the best women shooters for the country over the years.
Having done well to be amongst contenders, it was a harsh lesson for both the Indians and the disappointment was written largely on Manu and Jaspal Rana's (her coach at the venue) faces.
After those shock misses, the final continued to be a topsy-turvy affair. Paris Games medallist Sevval Ilayda Tarhan of Turkey was the lone European in the final and she was within sight of a podium finish. However, at the business end, she hit some low scores while the rest stepped up which meant she was forced to settle for a fourth-place finish.
Ho Ching Shing of Hong Kong was coasting along well and the odds were on her side to win the gold after a handy lead towards the business end. But just like Manu and Esha, she returned with a paltry 8.6 in her 22nd shot (out of 24) and she was forced to be content with silver. China's Yao Qianxun meanwhile had saved the best for last as she had a series of good high 10s which eventually helped her become the world champ. Qian Wei, another shooter from China, claimed bronze.
