Mixed gold is good, but individual 10m gold would have been better, says India's young pistol shooting champ Manu Bhaker's father

India's young pistol shooting champ Manu Bhaker, 17, wasn't sporting the broadest smile after winning the 10m air pistol mixed team gold with partner Saurabh Chaudhary, 16, at the ISSF World Cup in Beiajing yesterday. That's probably because a day earlier, she shot a poor fifth round to lose out on a final berth in the 10m air pistol individual event, where a medal would have guaranteed India a quota place for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

"This mixed team gold is a good achievement, but it would have been a greater feat had she won the individual gold in the 10m air pistol event a day earlier. Manu will be disappointed to miss out on that one as it would have given the country a quota spot for the Tokyo Olympics," Manu's father, Ramkishen told mid-day from their home in Goria Village in Haryana's Jhajjar district.

India's teenage pistol shooting stars Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary

Yesterday, Manu-Saurabh shot a combined score of 482 to qualify in fifth place for the final, where they beat China's Jiang Ranxin and Pang Wie 16-6 to win gold. This is their third gold in this event, having clinched top honours at the 12th Airgun Championship in Taipei last month, following up on the gold at the World Cup in New Delhi in February.

However, it's the individual events that Manu is keen to excel in, insists dad Ramkishen. Manu failed to make the final of the 10m air pistol event in Beijing, shooting a score of 575 and finishing 17th. She erred in the last round, shooting a 92 to follow a decent series of 96, 98, 97, 97 and 95.

Manu's father Ramkishen

"I was following the event on the internet. Her last round was poor. She would have been very disappointed, as was I. But Manu has this unique ability of erasing bad memories when she returns the next day. She would have begun the mixed event with a clean slate and that's why she did well. But her aim is to win the Olympic quota. She couldn't do it in Delhi and failed in the 10m event here. Now, she will go all out in the 25m event day after tomorrow," added Ramkishen.

Team India coach and mentor of the junior brigade, Jaspal Rana however, is confident that the quota will come sooner or later. "These are young shooters. They are not machines. Just because they have achieved so much success so early, the expectations are always rising," multiple Asian Games gold medallist Rana told mid-day from Beijing yesterday. He agreed that the quota aspect cannot be ignored, but should be handled tactfully. "Getting the Olympic quota is important, but it is a by-product of shooting well. I only insist that my shooters shoot well because if they do that, the quota will inevitably come. That's the reason we don't even talk about quota places while training. It unnecessarily puts pressure on the youngsters," added Rana.

Also read: Too much attention will affect Manu Bhaker: Jaspal Rana

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