Will come back stronger, better: Manu Bhaker
Manu Bhaker's malfunction in the 25m pistol final brought back visions of the debacle she suffered in the 10m event at the Tokyo Olympics.
While the 25m pistol final will be remembered by Indian shooting fans for Esha Singh's nerveless shooting, it may also trigger a bunch of unhappy memories for Manu Bhaker, who finished fifth.
First, there was a "malfunction" -- as the announcer at the venue called it -- bringing back visions of her pistol malfunction in the 10m event at the Tokyo Olympics. And later, her medal-less finish despite topping the qualification was a throwback to the 2018 Asiad where she had entered the final with a Games record qualifying score of 593, a mark that still stands.
Bhaker called for the series to stop during the third sequence and complained of "empties" -- or shells -- coming at her from the lane to her immediate left. "It happened in the initial few series and so I thought of informing the officials. We are trained to handle any scenario on the range," she said.
However, it seemed to have an immediate effect on her shooting as she could register only one out of her next five shots, slipping from fifth to sixth.
The stoppage in the sixth series when South Korean shooter Jiin Yang complained of a missing shot was used by Singh to regroup and she shot a perfect (5/5) series next. Bhaker though could manage only a 3/5 in the seventh series which meant her second Asian Games ended in tears and disappointment.
"I am weeping because I worked really hard for the Asian Games, but I will come back stronger and better," she said.
Bhakar along with Singh and Rhythm Sangwan won the women's 25m air pistol team gold earlier in the day.
