Ace shooter Manu Bhaker sets world record, wins India its first gold at ISSF World Cup

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Nov 23, 2019: Shooting sensation Manu Bhaker won India’s first gold medal at the 2019 ISSF World Cup at Putian in China. The young shooter broke the junior world record with her gold-winning score of 244.7 in the Women’s 10m Air Pistol event.

The achievement makes Manu Bhaker the second Indian shooter, after Heena Sidhu, to bag a gold medal in Women’s 10m Air Pistol at the ISSF World Cup. Heena won gold in April 2014 Yahoo reported.

 

The Haryana-born shooter earned praise, with Manohar Lal, Chief Minister of the state, tweeting a congratulatory note.

Manu was followed by Serbia’s Zorana Arunovic, who earned silver with 241.9, and Quian Wang, of China, who took home bronze with 221.8 points.

Shooter Elavenil Velarivan also bagged a gold medal. The 20-year-old scored 250.8 in the final of the Women’s 10m Air Rifle event, staying one point ahead of Lin Ying-Shin who scored 250.7. Elavenil had won the gold medal at the 2018 ISSF Junior World Cup as well.

With Divyansh Singh Panwar also winning a gold medal after the two women shooters, Team India brought home three gold medals from the tournament yesterday.

However, Manu earlier did not qualify for the final in the women’s 25m air pistol category. At the time, she had scored 292 in the precision and 291 in the rapid rounds, adding up to a total score of 583 in the qualifiers.

The 17-year-old shooter represented India and won a gold medal in the Women’s 10m Air Pistol event at 2018 ISSF World Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico, last year. She had also bagged a gold medal and set a fresh Commonwealth Games record when she scored 240.9 points in the Women’s 10m Air Pistol event during the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games 2018.

Before shooting, Manu tried her hand at a number of sports, including boxing, tennis, skating, and Huyen Langlon, a martial art practiced in Manipur.

The ace shooter is now set to represent India at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 10m pistol event.