Manu Bhaker becomes first Indian shooter to win gold at Youth Olympics
Manu Bhaker claimed India's first ever gold medal in shooting at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires on Tuesday.
The 16-year-old Bhaker shot 236.5 to finish on top of the podium in the women's 10m air pistol event, making up for the heartbreak at the Asian Games in Indonesia and the World Championship where she could not live up to her billing.
Russia's Iana Enina won the silver with 235.9, while Nino Khutsiberidze bagged the bronze medal.
Bhaker began the eight-woman final with a 10.0 and followed it up with a 10.1 and 10.4. She led the Stage 1 with 99.3 after a sequence that included seven scores of 10 and above.
#TiroDeportivo - Pistola de aire comprimido 10m mujeres#Shooting - 10m Air Pistol Women
Oro BHAKER Manu IND @ioaindia
Plata ENINA Iana RUS @Olympic_Russia
Bronce KHUTSIBERIDZE Nino GEO @ISSF_Shooting pic.twitter.com/1Tu0Fbdw58
Buenos Aires 2018 (@BuenosAires2018) October 9, 2018
Two 9.8 in the beginning of second stage (elimination) were followed by a 10.1 and 9.9, helping her maintain the lead over Thailand's Kanyakorn Hirunphoem by some distance.
The World Cup and Commonwealth Games gold medallist extended her domination in the following shots and looked to be on course for the yellow metal. She slipped once to the second place but quickly regained the top position.
Meanwhile, Russian Iana Enina jumped to second with a 10.7. There was another 10.7 by Enina but she could not catch up with Bhaker.
Earlier, Bhaker topped the qualifying with 576, which included a series of 95, 96, 96, 96, 95, 98 and placed second and third in the qualification were Russia's Enina Iana and Chinese Lu Kaiman with 569, the gulf in scores clearly highlighting the form the Indian was in.
Seeking to rediscover her habit of finishing on the podium after heartbreaks at the Asian Games and a none-too-impressive outing at the World Championships, Bhaker quickly got into the groove and showed her intent through the qualifying phase.
Having suffered the first significant loss of her young career in Indonesia after an astonishing run that made her one of India's biggest prospects, Bhaker lived up to the billing in the Argentine capital, showing tremendous mental strength to achieve her goal.
Representing her country in the women's 10m air pistol event, Bhaker has won medals at all major events she has participated barring the recent Asian Games.
At the 2017 Asian Junior Championships, she won a silver medal but at the 2018 ISSF World Cup held in Mexico, she returned with two gold medals. She won the women's 10m air pistol and in the 10m Air Pistol mixed team events.
The girl from Jhajjar, Haryana followed that up with a gold medal at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in April.
(With inputs from PTI)
Courtesy: www.indiatoday.in
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I am back home: All England missed, Sindhu lands back in Bengaluru from Dubai
Bengaluru (PTI): Two-time Olympic medal-winning Indian badminton star P V Sindhu, who was stranded in Dubai due to closure of airspace in the Gulf region, has returned to the country after pulling out of the All England Championships in Birmingham.
Sindhu posted on X to announce that she is back in the city.
"Back home in Bangalore and safe. The last few days have been intense and uncertain, but I'm truly grateful to be back to my house," she posted.
"A heartfelt thank you to the incredible ground teams, Dubai authorities, airport staff, immigration, and every single person who stepped up and took such good care of us during a very difficult time. The empathy and professionalism meant more than words can say.
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"For now, it's time to rest, reset, and figure out the next steps," she added.
The former world champion was on her way to Birmingham via Dubai, when she was stranded after the flight operations were suspended in the Gulf region following the US and Israeli bombing of Iran.
Iran subsequently retaliated, hitting Dubai as well.
"Moments like these remind you how fragile normal life really is," she had posted on February 28 while revealing some details of her ordeal, which included an explosion near her place of stay.
She had described the experience as "extremely tense and scary moment" for her and her team, including Indonesian coach Irwansyah Adi Pratama.
