Tokyo 2020: How did Manu Bhaker’s ordeal unfold

Manu Bhaker nervously fidgeted with her Morini pistol at the Asaka shooting range, a look of panic creeping into her eyes as she failed to load her gun.

Just a moment ago, she had shot a fine 98 in the first of the six-series qualification round at the 10m air pistol event. Each series consists of 10 shots and all 60 shots need to be completed in 75 minutes.

Now here was Bhaker, early in her second series, with her barrel jammed. She walked up to coach Raunak Pandit and they checked the gun. The cocking lever – a tiny metal part that is lifted and pulled back to open the barrel – was broken. Bhaker still had 44 shots to go in 55 minutes. The ordeal of the 19-year-old had just begun at the biggest sporting event in the world.

In the end, after a spirited fight back once her pistol was fixed, Bhaker lost out on a qualification by just two points and left the range in tears.

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It was emblematic of how India’s young team of air pistol and rifle shooters – some of the finest in the world – fared at the most rarefied stage for their sport. On Sunday their individual campaigns ended when a few hours after Bhaker, 18-year-old Divyansh Panwar, world No. 2 in 10m air rifle in the Tokyo 2020 rankings, and Deepak Kumar both failed to qualify for the final. Panwar was a big hope, having won a World Cup bronze in Delhi this year and been world No. 1 till recently.

Now their hopes for a medal rest with the mixed team events on Tuesday.

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India’s shooting contingent, a record number sent to the Olympics, arrived in Tokyo with expectations running high because of the way they had performed in the 2019 shooting calendar, where they had swept the world cups, and won more medals than powerhouses China and the US for the first time (the 2020 calendar was cancelled because of the pandemic). They also carried with them the pressure of the Indian shooting team returning without a medal from the Rio Games.

Bhaker’s pistol

Bhaker could have used a back-up pistol but that was a risk – because she would have to calibrate the alignments on it.

“We still have enough time, no need to panic,” Pandit told her.

They went for a ‘weapon breakage’ and walked out of the range. They had to replace the lever, adjust its settings, test the pistol and get back to the match.

A gun malfunction in the air pistol, which has an electronic trigger, is rare.

Pandit and Bhaker picked the spare parts from their bags and went to the repair room. Pandit unscrewed the parts and replaced the lever from the spare pistol and checked the settings, telling Bhaker: “We can still do it.”

But it wasn’t over.

“When we checked everything, we saw the trigger had stopped working,” Pandit said later. “I opened the circuit – it was red hot – that too had to be replaced with a new one.”

The entire repair took around 14 minutes. Bhaker rushed back to her lane, now left with 41mins for her 44 shots.

Now she needed to fire testing shots to check the gun’s accuracy, even as other shooters were into their fourth series.

Finally, it came down to 37 minutes and 44 shots.

“This was unprecedented for me,” Pandit said. I’ve never seen something like that happening with an air pistol. She was nervous, anyone would be, but she gathered herself very well.” said Pandit.

Bhaker, a pistol prodigy, started brilliantly, with two 10s. Every time she dropped to a 9, Pandit walked up to her for a chat and she would hit a 10 again. A 98 in the fifth series raised hopes that she could sneak into the top eight even as she was rushing through her shots. A 10 in the penultimate shot and hope floated. It came down to the last shot. But that was an 8, and Bhaker finished with 575 with the cut falling at 577. Bhaker’s teammate

Yashaswini Deswal finished 13, scoring 574.

“Her world has collapsed. She has been putting in so much hard work, training for 10-12 hrs and was perfectly ready,” said Pandit. “Things were out of control but she did brilliantly. It shows her preparation was good. This had to happen on the day of the match!” said an anguished Pandit.

Under pressure

In Tokyo, none of the Indian shooters performed the way they usually do. Of the eight shooters from India in air rifle and air pistol, only one, Saurabh Chaudhary, 19, qualified for the final, before exiting early there. Chaudhary and Bhaker will pair up for the mixed team event.

While Bhaker suffered an unfortunate setback, did the rest cave under pressure?

“You should not think about the outcome or the performance,” said Vijay Kumar, who won the rapid fire silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics. “You have to keep your focus on technique. If you think about the result and medal, pressure will be there. There are still events and I hope they (make a) comeback.”

Indians will also be in action in the 25m sports pistol, 50m rifle three-position and skeet events.