New Delhi: Following Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh’s historic bronze medal at Paris Olympics, the sporting fraternity took to social media to express joy at the feats of these two young players.
India’s shooting ace Manu Bhaker made history on Tuesday when she became the first Indian women’s athlete to win second medal at the same Olympics. Bhaker and her partner Sarabjot Singh secured bronze in the 10 m air pistol mixed team event. Earlier, Bhaker had won bronze in the women’s individual 10M air pistol event.
Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar took to X and wrote, “You two have brought our medal no. 2! Congratulations, @realmanubhaker& @Sarabjotsingh30, for winning the in 10m air pistol mixed team event. The entire nation stands tall with pride! Special mention to @realmanubhaker for creating history by becoming the first Indian in independent India to win 2 medals at the same Olympics! #Paris2024 #OIympics.”
Legendary shooter Abhinav Bindra, who also became India’s first individual gold medalist at the Olympics back in 2008 Beijing Olympics, also wrote, “Manu & Sarabjot: You’ve done what no Indian shooting pair has done before. India’s first Olympic shooting team medal. Savour this moment, you’ve earned it! Proud #Olympics2024 #Paris2024 #Shooting #ManuBhaker #SarabjotSingh.”
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary, Jay Shah lauded both the players for their clinical display and for bringing “immense pride” to the nation.
“Second medal for India! @realmanubhakerand @Sarabjotsingh30~ you both were clinical today at the 10m air pistol mixed team bronze medal match! Your resilience throughout the event was incredible. Cherish this moment – it brings immense pride to our nation!”
Former Indian opener and current head coach Gautam Gambhir also lauded the pair for their superb performance.
“Superb performance @realmanubhaker and #SarabjotSingh! ‘s second medal!,” tweeted Gambhir.
India’s high jump national record holder and Asian Games, Commonwealth Games medalist Tejaswin Shankar was in awe of the calmness displayed by both the players in such a big match.
“I don’t understand shooting. The calmness on Manu and Sarabjot’s face is scary . I’d ve run around and tear up the whole venue celebrating my medal! True role models for all of us. #OlympicGames #shooting #ManuBhakar #Paris2024,” tweeted Tejaswin.
Veteran Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin also congratulated the duo for their phenomenal achievement.
“Congratulation to @realmanubhaker and @Sarabjotsingh30 on the phenomenal achievement. #OlympicGames,” tweeted Ashwin.
Former Indian middle-order batter VVS Laxman also lauded Manu-Sarabjot for making the nation “super proud”.
“Many congratulations to Manu Bhaker & Sarabjot Singh for their wonderful win in the Air Pistol Mixed team event to win India’s 2nd medal in Paris. Kudos to @realmanubhaker
for becoming the first Indian to win multiple medals in a single edition. You guys have made us super proud. #Paris2024Olympic.”
Manu-Sarabjot beat South Korea’s Lee Wonho and Oh Ye Jin 16-10 in the bronze medal play-off match. With this medal, India’s medal tally increases to two at the Paris Olympics. Both Bhaker and Sarabjot shot consistently with regular 10s in the series against the Koreans.
Manu is the first athlete from the Indian contingent after independence to get two medals in a single edition of the Paris Olympics. Earlier in the 1900 Olympics, Norman Pritchard won two medals while representing India, both silver in the 200 m and 200 m hurdles.
Manu-Sarabjot’s shooting mixed team medal is India’s first-ever shooting team medal in Olympic history.
Also, Bhaker joins an elite group of athletes to have multiple individual medals at the Olympics: PV Sindhu (badminton silver at Rio 2016 and bronze medal at Tokyo 2020) and Sushil Kumar (wrestling bronze at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics).
Earlier on Monday, Manu-Sarabjot secured 580-20x points in total to finish third, The gold medal match will take place between Turkiye (582-18x) and Serbia (581-24x).
In the qualification round of the mixed team 10 m air pistol event, each member of a team got to shoot a total of 30 shots in a time span of 30 minutes. Each series of shots consists of 10 shots per player and 20 in total. The top four teams got the privilege of qualifying for medal rounds, with the top two teams playing for gold and the third and fourth-placed teams locking horns for bronze.
Manu-Sarabjot, sat at six with 193 points, with Manu getting 98 and Sarabjot getting 95. In their second series, Manu and Sarabjot secured a total of 195 points, with Manu getting 98 and Sarabjot getting 97.
In their third series, Manu-Sarabjot secured 192 points, with Manu getting 95 points and Sarabjot getting 97 points.
At the end of all three series, Manu-Sarabjot had the final score of 580-20x.