Paris Olympics 2024 Shooting: Manu Bhaker narrowly misses out on a medal in women’s 25m pistol event
Indian shooter Manu Bhaker narrowly missed out on a medal in the women’s 25m Pistol event at the Paris Olympics 2024, finishing fourth after a dramatic shoot-off on Saturday, August 3. After securing two bronze medals in the ongoing Summer Games, Bhaker's quest for a third medal ended in disappointment.
The final featured the top eight shooters from the qualification, competing for the medals. The competition was divided into two stages. Stage 1 consisted of four series of five shots each, with shots within the 10.2 zone counting as points. Following this, Stage 2 saw one shooter getting eliminated after each subsequent series until the gold medalist was determined.
Manu Bhaker had a slow start, managing only two points in her first series. However, she quickly found her rhythm, scoring 4, 4, and 3 in the subsequent series to finish Stage 1 with 13 points. Bhaker's perfect score of 5 in the fifth series propelled her to third place.
In the sixth and seventh series, Bhaker continued her ascent by scoring two 4s, reaching a total of 26 points, and moving up to second place, just one point behind Korea’s Yang Jiin.
However, pressure started building as Manu Bhaker managed only two points in the eighth series, bringing her total to 28 points, tying with Hungary’s Veronika Major. This tie led to a nerve-wracking shoot-off, where each athlete had five shots. While Manu scored three points, Veronika got four.
Thus, Manu Bhaker finished in the fourth spot, just shy of a record third medal at the Paris Olympics 2024.
Veronika Major went on to win the bronze with a total of 31 points. The competition for the gold medal also reached a thrilling climax as Korea’s Yang Jiin and France’s Camille Jedrzejewski were tied at 37 points, leading to another shoot-off. Yang scored four points to Camille’s one, securing the gold medal for Korea, while Camille settled for silver.
Paris Olympics 2024 Shooting: Final Standings in Women’s 25m Pistol Event ft. Manu Bhaker
- Yang Jiin (Republic of Korea) - 37 (Gold)
- Camille Jedrzejewski (France) - 37 (Silver)
- Veronika Major (Hungary) - 31 (Bronze)
- Manu Bhaker (India) - 28
- Zhao Nan (People's Republic of China) - 23
- Rostamiyan Haniyeh (Islamic Republic of Iran) - 19
- Trinh Thu Vinh (Vietnam) - 16
- Katelyn Morgan Abeln (United States of America) - 5