ISSF World Cup 2018: Why 16-year-old shooter Manu Bhaker's journey is so inspiring

Haryana girl Manu Bhaker has made India proud by winning two gold medals at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup in Mexico. Her winning streak continued as she first won the women's 10m air pistol individual gold, which was followed by a gold medal in a mixed team event along with Om Prakash Mitharval. Now, India is at the top of the medal tally with five (two gold and three bronze) medals.

Manu is only 16, which makes her India’s youngest shooter to win a World Cup gold. The victory is also significant because this is only India’s fourth overall pistol gold in the World Cup. 

And here’s an amazing fact: In women's individual, Manu beat Mexico’s Alejandra Zavia, a two-time World Cup finals winner, who has been shooting since 1998, four years before Manu was born. At the beginning Manu was trailing by 1.7 points before the last two shots in the 24-shot final, but finally delivered the gold shot with a 0.4 point margin. Apart from Alejandra, France’s Celine Goberville, Greece’s Anna Korakaki were also in the final.

Introduced to shooting in 2016

According to reports, Universal Senior Secondary school in Goriya village is the only place with a shooting range in Jhajjar district, Haryana. The shooting range is 25km away from her home. Within two years, she became national champion in youth (U-18), junior (U-21) and senior categories with 15 medals. Before shooting, Manu was into boxing, and thang-ta (Manipuri martial art).

Shooting happened by chance

It was a sheer stroke of luck that Manu was introduced to shooting. Her mother was worried about her health as all the sports she took interests in engaged physical stress. Manu was forced to quit boxing after she suffered an eye injury. She was also a state-level skating champion. Within a month of taking to a shooting range, she asked her father for a pistol.

Record-breaking spree

During the 61st National Shooting Championship in Kerala, she broke Heena Sidhu’s long-standing record of 240.8 with 242.3 in the final. Heena Sidhu is a multiple World Cup medalist. Manu also won a silver medal at the 2017 Asian Junior Championship.

This was the first World Cup where women shooters hit 60 shots in the qualifications. Previously, women shooters used to take 40 shots. From January 1, 2018, the ISSF changed the rules to bring gender equality in the sport.

Also read: Why sending star players to Commonwealth Games is not the best idea