Indus Valley Times

FRANCE, JULY 30: Manu Bhaker is now the only Indian athlete to win two medals in one Olympics. It was only poetic that she was the senior stateswoman making amends for the points dropped by Sarabjot Singh in the 10m air pistol.

The match was as expected to be tense and it was. In the race to 16, India raced the 14-6 but South Korea made a comeback. In the end India won 16-10. India’s second bronze at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The weather prediction for Tuesday had been hot. After days of rain and gloom, the sun was beating down in disdain. Electronic displays at major transport hubs, including metros, have been warning people of the heat wave that would reach somewhere about 35-36-degree centigrade. Stay hydrated, they said. Chateauroux was no different.

For Manu and Sarabjot Singh, the heat was inside the final hall of the shooting ranges, some 300km away from Paris. They were shooting for bronze against South Korean mixed pair Oh Ye-Jin (women gold medallist) and Lee Won-ho (missed a medal). It was always going to be tough but shooting is won by fine margins. One event can mentally drain a shooter. And the two Koreans and Manu have the experience of playing in final and Sarabjot was fresh.

If the warm-up rituals were an indication, the Koreans were not on the mark, literally. The two stood there with the weapons in their hands target in front knocking on the gates of greatness. The quest for the Olympic medal that would change their destiny forever was on.

The day Manu won the 10m air pistol bronze and another medal in the same Olympics seemed more that just a dream. The form she has been in, it was within her grasp and she knew it. She created history – becoming India’s first athlete to win two medals in one Olympics – once again.

India’s Manu Bhaker, left, and Sarabjot Singh pose for a photograph after winning the bronze medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024

From PM Modi to sporting icons, India rejoice Manu Bhaker’s historic Olympic medal

For Sarabjot, the journey so far had been magical. An accidental shooter, that’s how he would want to describe his chanced introduction to the sport, he has been improving every tournament. He narrowly missed out – on scores of an inner 10 in the qualification – on a chance to qualify for the 10m air pistol final on his maiden Olympic appearance.

Manu kept the pallets in the centre, even though Sarabjot was not too accurate with his shots. The Olympic record holder who won gold on Sunday in women’s 10m air pistol somehow was missing the 10 point circle.

Tuesday would be the day when his life would take a different turn. Sarabjot is from Dhin, a village some 50km away from Ambala, where his school was. One day some of his friends joined shooting in school and he too was tempted. But his father would not agree with the his son’s pursuits. Again, life took another chanced turn. The chairperson of the school asked him to join a camp that was conducted by his school. Then, he won a medal during a district competition and thought about pursuing the sport as a profession.

Finding a coach in Ambala was the most difficult part. Sarabjot’s uncle helped him to find one. He introduced him to coach Abhishek Rana, who was on the stands watching his ward shoot. Not a national coach, he spent his own money to come here.

Sarabjot’s training at Ambala was not easy either. Until February this year he did not have money to buy a car. The man who loves fast cars finally bought one and it was from February that he stopped commuting on a bus for training. His daily ritual would be to leave home, travel about one hour to reach Ambala to study and train and get back home only in the evening.

All these days, since 2016, when he started shooting seriously, until February this year he was commuting by bus. He would pack his lunch for the day and shoot and shoot. Coach Abhishek is with him for a tournament for the first time outside India.

-PTI