All eyes are on shooter Manu Bhaker as she will make a bid for her first Olympic medal in the 10m air pistol finals to be held at Chateauroux Shooting Centre on Sunday afternoon. She had qualified third for the finals, becoming the only Indian shooter to enter the finals on the opening day of the Paris Olympics.
Bhaker, whose campaign in the Tokyo Olympics ended in heartbreak after her weapon malfunctioned, lived up to the expectations on Saturday, scoring 580 in the qualifications. Hungarian ace Veronika Major claimed the top spot with a score of 582.
As she qualified for the finals, Bhaker's personal coach Jaspal Rana said the focus was on the finals. "What happened today doesn't matter anymore. Tomorrow is when it counts. We start afresh," he told PTI. Rana added that the stadium's air conditioning not being the most effective. "She needed to take time and drink a lot of water as it was hot," he said.
While Bhaker kept the expectations up, another shooter Sarabjot Singh failed to make it to the final round of the men's 10m air pistol event here. Sarabjot finished ninth with a total score of 577 in the qualifications. He has one more chance for a medal as he will pair up with Manu Bhaker in the 10m air pistol mixed team event.
Other major Indian stars who will start their Olympic campaign include shuttlers PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy. Both are expected to sail through the first round as they have received easy draws. Two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen will also open her campaign against Germany's Maxi Karina Kloetzer in the 50 kg round.
Another silver lining was Indian boxer Preeti Pawar's win against Vietnam's Vo Thi Kim Anh to enter the women's 54kg category pre-quarterfinals. Though she had an unimpressive start in the first round against her Vietnamese opponent, she went on to dominate Anh in the next two rounds, attacking and landing clear blows on her opponent.
However, the Indian shuttlers women's doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto began their Paris Olympics campaign with a loss in straight games to South Koreans Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong in their Group C fixture here. The Indian pair, which put up an inspired show in 2023 to qualify for the Games, went down 18-21 10-21 in a 44-minute match on Saturday.
