S.Kannan in Paris
Basking in the glory of two medals at a single Olympics, Manu Bhaker has no time to celebrate. On August 2, she will launch an assault on the 25-metre sports pistol event, during the qualification round, at the Paris Olympics.
How times change. Before the four Olympic trials were held in New Delhi and Bhopal, Manu was nowhere in the reckoning in air pistol. That she blazed the trials and now has two medals from it is glorious history. The big deal, can she attempt a hat-trick and seal a medal in sports pistol. The answer is ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ This is her favourite event, so to say.
Having peaked twice in one Olympics with hardly any gap in between, this match will be indeed fascinating. For all those not familiar with her preparations under coach Jaspal Rana, she has worked in every aspect. The slow-fire training for air pistol saw her in sublime form and a mindset which was scary. She was, literally, smoking it.
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Sport pistol has two phases —precision and duelling. Precision stage is slow fire and she has mastered it. Duelling, she has always been good at it. With another Indian in fray, Esha Singh, it will be interesting to see if Manu can reboot and take aim. From 10 metres to 25 metres, the whole event changes.
What will be crucial is if she can maintain her inner calm. She had no time to celebrate. Even sleep, which she loves for recovery, and is so important for an athlete, will not be easy after the emotional highs. Coach Jaspal has prepared her for this one final assault and is hoping she can make the final, at least, on August 2, through qualifying.
The medal match will be on August 3, if she makes the cut. Yes, Manu shot in three events in the Tokyo Olympics and won nothing. Now, she is all smiles, posing for snaps and giving interviews. Her smile vanishes when she is in the shooting lane. While standing and taking her stance, she points the barrel at the target and the whole motion of firing at the 25-metre target has been rehearsed thousands of times.
What counts now is not her technique, which is solid. The real facet she will attempt to showcase is mental calm, inner peace and going flat out. She knows how to avoid any distraction but if one has followed a bit of sports science, to peak again and again is not going to be easy. Anyone who knows Manu will vouch, she loves the challenge and will attempt something unheard of by an Indian at the Olympics in one edition.
The best shooters have found it hard to focus on one event and do well, a third try will be magical. India is celebrating, the media from overseas is also ‘checking’ who is Manu Bhaker and how she has become a champion overnight! For someone who idolises PV Sindhu and Neeraj Chopra, she is now herself a diva. But then, while speaking to the media on Tuesday, she was asking if she was an “icon!” Manu was almost chiding, for she wanted to know what people think of her.
The enormity of her achievements will sink in only when she lands in New Delhi, dates of which are not finalised. As long as she is in Chateauroux and squeezes the trigger in another big match, 25-metres sports pistol, don’t discount her chances. She is human, not a machine. If she can peak, again, she will be defying the law of averages. All that is possible as she had already touched Himalayan heights in France. Sports pistol is her pet event, Manu will not let it go away so easily. Her hunger is crazy and the work ethic defines her persona. This time, the world will be watching a multi-medallist go for a hat-trick. Rubbing eyes in disbelief?
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