Gold medallist Manu Bhaker of India and silver medallist Heena Sidhu of India pose with their medals and Borobi plush dolls. (Source: Reuters)
Manu Bhaker added to India’s medal tally by winning gold in women’s 10m air pistol while Heena Sidhu made a remarkable comeback to claim silver at the Commonwealth Games 2018 in Gold Coast on Sunday. Ravi Kumar added to the cheer for India as he bagged bronze in the men’s 10m air rifle event later in the day.
The 16-year old Bhaker showed tremendous performance to overtake shooters with much more experience as she shot 240.9 to break CWG record. With this, India’s medal tally has now gone up to a total of nine medals – six golds, two silvers and a bronze.
Bhaker finished well ahead of her teammate Sidhu, who aggregated 234. Meanwhile Australia’s Elena Galiabovitch ended with 214.9 to claim the bronze medal. Bhakur fired 10, 10.3, 10.6 and then a sensational 10.9 in the final to put herself into the lead.
Bhaker, who became a medal prospect after taking ISSF World Cup this year by storm where she won two gold medals (women’s 10m air pistol and the mixed team pistol event), shot a qualifying CWG record score of 388/400 in her debut at the quadrennial games, with the experienced Heena shooting 379/400 to come second.
Sidhu, who had also won silver at the Delhi CWG in 2010, was on the verge of elimination at a point but did well to make a recovery and win silver. Sidhu, who has participated in CWG on two previous occasions, had won gold in the team 10m air pistol event and silver in the individual 10m air pistol in 2010 Delhi Games.
Ravi Kumar of India poses with his bronze medal on the podium after the men’s 10m Air Rifle finals. (Source: AP)
Ravi, who won bronze at ISSF World Cup, shot 224.1 to finish third on the podium. Deepak Kumar, who also participated in the 10m air rifle finals, finished sixth with 162.3. Australia’s Dane Sampson claimed gold with 245 while Bangladesh’s Abdullah Hel Baki claimed silver with 244.7.