Shooting, Paris 2024 Olympics July 28 Highlights: Manu Bhaker wins India’s first medal, gets bronze in women’s 10m air pistol; Arjun Babuta makes the 10m air rifle final

We are done with shooting for the day. Come tomorrow, we will have Sarabjot Singh, Arjun Cheema, Bhaker, Rhythm Sangwan, (10m air pistol mixed team qualification) Ramita Jindal (10m air rifle women final) and Arjun Babuta (10m air rifle men final) in action.

India deserves many more medals. As many as possible. The feeling is really surreal, it takes a lot of effort. In the last shot, I was fighting with all the energy I had. Maybe I can get better in the next (event). I was doing what I was supposed to do. After Tokyo, I was very disappointed. It took me a long time to get over that.

As soon as the qualification was over, I didn’t know how things were going to be.

We have worked hard. We have to leave the rest to destiny and God. We will do as much as we can. It is a very good feeling.

Thank you so much for sticking by me (to all the friends, relatives and well-wishers!). It is for them that I am standing here strong. Every single time I am putting so much effort and you all made my life so easy. I would like to thank my sponsors OGQ and my coaches.

(Photo Credit: Ritu Raj Konwar/The Hindu)

Babuta has qualified for men’s 10m air rifle final with a score of 630.1. Sandeep fought really hard but could only come up to 12th. His last series was worth 106.0.

Oh Ye Jin takes the gold medal with an Olympic record (243.2). Kim Yeji picks silver.

​

Manu Bhaker wins bronze in 10m pistol shooting, becomes India’s first female Olympic medallist in shooting

This was Manu’s redemption after a pistol malfunction in the qualifications at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 had reduced her to tears.

A 10.1 from Bhaker. A 9.4 from Yeji. The Indian is up to second place. Bhaker shoots a 10.3. But Yeji gets a 10.5 to edge her by 0.1 points. This is India’s first medal in Paris 2024. The Jhajjhar-born, now the first Indian woman to win a shooting medal, has a wry smile pasted on her lips. She loses out on the silver medal by the barest of margins... She missed out on the gold medal eliminator by 0.1 points. YES. 0.1.

A 10.1 from Bhaker! Thu Vinh Trinh, fourth, is around 3 points away. A medal all but confirmed. She follows it up with a 10.0. India winning at least a bronze. FINALLY. FINALLLLLLYYYY. Thu Vinh is fourth with 198.6.

A 10.1 from Bhaker! But the Koreans follow it up with a 10.6 (Ye Jin) and 10.2 (Yeji). Bhaker gets a 10.2 next. Ye Jin - 10.2, Yeji - 9.7. The Indians in the stands are getting louder by the minute. Xue Li, the second Chinese in the contest, exits fifth.

Bhaker back in the 9s. A 9.9. Is the occasion getting to her? Hope not. A 10.2 next. That would keep her in the podium places. The Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Ranxin leaves the final in the sixth place.

9.8 for Bhaker. The leader Kim Yeji shoots a 9.9. This is surely the pressure taking over. Another 9.8 for Bhaker. The Koreans get a 1-2 again. Sevval Ilayda Tarhan exits seventh with 135.6.

A 10.5 and 10.4 for Bhaker. She moves up to second. Veronika Major of Hungary, 27, exits with a score of 114.0. Ranxin will be the one in danger zone in the next round.

100.3 for Bhaker after 10 shots. 10.1, 10.3, 9.6, 9.6, 10.3 in the second competition stage. She stands third after the Korean pair for now. The elimination starts after two more single shots.

Bhaker second after the first competition stage with 50.4 (10.6, 10.2, 9.5, 10.5, 9.6). Ye Jin leads the pack (52.2). Ranxin is at the very bottom of the pile with 46.5.

The first competition stage begins. 250 seconds. 5 shots. Oh Ye Jin of Korea gets things started with a 10.7. Manu follows that up with a 10.6. She is second.

The announcer introduces the eight athletes in 10m air pistol women’s final. Bhaker is the seventh athlete to be introduced. She smiles and waves to the crowd even as the “India! India!” cheers become audible.

Both Babuta and Sandeep shoot a 105.5 in the third series. While Babuta occupies the sixth place, Sandeep is 28th.

Manu Bhaker’s (Bib No. 1431) final begins in 15 minutes from now. Time to go through the Final rules.

The start positions in a Final will be assigned according to a shooter’s rank in the qualification round. The athletes should report to the Jury in the Finals Range Preparation Area at least 30 minutes before the scheduled start, which is 3pm IST in this case. Scores do not carry forward from qualification. There will be six minutes for sighting and preparation. In the first and second competition stages, finalists have 250 seconds to fire 5 shots. This sequence will continue until 24 shots are fired (two five-shot series and 14 single shots). The first elimination takes place after 12 shots, following which there will be an exit after every two shots until we get the top three, who will be named medallists.

Sandeep shoots a 9.9 in the last shot of the second series. 38th.

Babuta just manages to hold on to a top-eight place despite a dull 104.9 in the second series.

Sandeep gets a 103.6 off the first series. He is 37th and it would take a lot to improve his standing here.

105.7 for Babuta in the first series. He is presently third.

In his first six shots, Sandeep manages to cross 10.5 only once. He is 38th.

Babuta has a much better start, with a 10.7 followed by a 10.6.

Not the start Sandeep would have wanted... Two 10.1s for him.

The sighting and preparation period begins for the 10m Air Rifle Men’s Qualification.

Chinese shooters hold both the Olympic and World Qualification Records in men’s 10m air rifle. Sheng Lihao’s 637.9 in Baku Worlds 2023 is the current QWR, while Yang Haoran’s 632.7 in Tokyo 2020 is the QOR.

Italy does a 2-3 with Maldini’s compatriot Paolo Monna rounding up the podium places.

Xie Yu of China scored 240.9 to edge Italy’s Federico Nilo Maldini by 0.9 points

Let’s take a quick look at the 10m air rifle men’s qualification rules. The athletes will have 15 minutes of sighting and preparation time before they will be allowed 75 minutes to take 60 shots. During sighting, the shooters can take as many shots as they want. The top eight shooters qualify for the final.

Korea’s Hyojin Ban, who topped the leaderboard in women’s 10m air rifle with a score of 634.5, has shattered the Qualification Olympic Record. The previous record belonged to Duestad, who had shot 632.9 in Tokyo.

Sandeep Singh and Arjun Babuta will feature in the 10m air rifle men’s qualification at 2:45pm IST.

A 10.4! Someone please check my heart rate right now. Shooting is not for the faint-hearted; for those shooting and for those watching. With a 10.3 required for Ramita to equal eighth-placed Oceanne Muller, she crosses the hurdle with a 10.4 to finish fifth.

Somehow, it is always the same old story that would continue to haunt Indian shooting. The occasion gets to Elavenil, who scores a 9.8 in her penultimate shot. With 10.9 needed to equal the eighth-placed shooter, she only manages a 10.3. She is officially OUT!

Ramita with a 10.9 and 10.8 leapfrogs Elavenil to take the fifth spot.

A 105.3 for both the shooters in the last two series. How many times have we seen that happen? Are we set to get two Indian shooters in the final?

A perfect 10.9 from Elavenil! That will take her to 5th. She just needs to ride the high for her last five shots.

She starts the last series with a 10.4. This series decides whether she plays the final or goes through the exit door.

She is down to the sixth place now after a 10.1 and 10.3 in the ongoing series. Although, she has maintained a 10.5+ score post these, Elavenil gets a 105.3 again due to the two blips.

Ramita and Elavenil shoot the same scores in the fourth series - 105.3. Ramita is 10th on the standings.

Elavenil recovers quickly to fire a couple of high-10s. However, her rank doesn’t improve.

Ouch! A 9.9 from Elavenil. That would definitely hurt. However, the cushion of the high-10s sees her stay fourth.

Ramita betters Elavenil in the third series. The former shoots 104.9, 0.5 more than Elavenil.

A 10.0 from Elavenil. And that will see her lose the first place. She is 3rd now with Jeanette Hegg Duestad reclaiming the top spot.

Although she is getting the occasional high-10, Ramita is also recording quite a few 10.2s and 10.3s. She has just fallen out of the finalist places.

Okay, I am not used to this. Elavenil is setting the pace in this event. Three 10.6s to start off the third series. Meanwhile, my colleague Abhishek Saini does a Rinku Singh in the newsroom, saying: “ God’s plan, baby!”

106.1 from Elavenil in the second series. She is floating about in the +-0.1 range of 10.5. She has moved up to the second spot. This is seriously impressive.

A 10.8 from Ramita takes her to the 8th spot. Elavenil stays third with a 10.8 and 10.7 in the second series.

Ramita exploring the entire range of the 10s. In the second series, she has registered a perfect shot, two 10.7s, a 10.5, 10.4 and 10.3, thus far. However, those couple of high 10s is enough to propel her into the top 15s.

Elavenil gets a 105.8 in the first series. The Cuddalore-born shooter is fifth on the standings currently.

Ramita’s form dips temporarily after a 10.9 as she slips outside the top 20. With two 10.0s and a 10.2, Ramita finishes with a 104.3 in the first series. She is 22nd.

A 10.6 and 10.7 for Elavenil to get things rolling...

Ramita starts off with a 10.5 before following it up with a perfect 10.9!

Ramita will be firing from lane number 37 and Elavenil will be occupying the 24th.

Elavenil Valarivan will be wearing Bib No. 1441, while Ramita Jindal would be donning the numbers 1436.

The sighting and preparation time begins for women’s 10m air rifle qualification.

Let’s take a quick look at the 10m air rifle women’s qualification rules. The athletes will have 15 minutes of sighting and preparation time before they will be allowed 75 minutes to take 60 shots. During sighting, the shooters can take as many shots as they want. The top eight shooters qualify for the final.

Shooting resumes with women’s 10m Air Rifle Qualification at 12:45pm IST. Elavenil Valarivan and Ramita Jindal will be in action.

While you wait for the action to begin at the range, take a look at the list of Indians who are set to be in action at the Paris Olympics today.

Paris 2024 Olympics: Indians in action today — July 28 schedule, full list of events, venues, timings in IST, live streaming info

On July 28, Indian athletes will be in action in shooting, badminton, rowing, table tennis, boxing, swimming and archery.

Lock ‘n load! It’s almost time to climb aboard the hype train to Châteauroux, where 21 Indian shooters will take on the mission of going up against 321 of the world’s best to claim the ultimate prize — an Olympic medal.

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) announcing the squad way ahead of July 8 — the Paris 2024 entry deadline — felt like the calm before the storm. The shooters have had an acclimatisation and a hard-training camp at Volmerange-Les-Mines, followed by a two-week break while waiting for Judgement Day.

India has never had more shooters representing the country at the Olympics. Tokyo 2020 saw a previous best of 15. This time, among the 81 participating nations and the IOC (International Olympic Committee) Refugee Team, India will send the most shooters to France, tying with China, followed by the Republic of Korea, which has 16.

It is mostly a new-look squad except for familiar faces in pistol star Manu Bhaker and rifle wielders Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, Anjum Moudgil and Elavenil Valarivan. Having waded through the choppy waters of Tokyo, they will be up and running soon for a second shot at glory.

While those who have already performed on the biggest stage would believe that past experience will help them fare better this time, the debutants may be thankful for not having to carry any baggage from previous editions.

Let’s do a quick recap. After returning empty-handed from Tokyo, Indian shooters experienced a curious mix of highs and lows in the subsequent years. Amid developments like numerous rule changes and overhauls in the coaching set-up, several prominent names such as Saurabh Chaudhary, Abhishek Verma, Apurvi Chandela, and Rahi Sarnobat faded from scorecards for different reasons. A change of guard brought newcomers like Sift Kaur Samra and Sarabjot Singh to the forefront. Others, like Bhaker, entered recovery mode, deeply affected by the media scrutiny. However, she appears to have bounced back just in time.

One of the many factors that will work in favour of the Indians this time is the absence of Russia from the roster owing to the strict qualification restrictions in place after the latter invaded Ukraine.

Although the IOC stated that, as of July 13, 15 AINs (Athlètes Individuels Neutres/Individual Neutral Athletes) with Russian passports had qualified for the Summer Games in Paris (with a maximum of 55 eligible to make it), none of them happens to be shooters.

READ THE FULL PREVIEW BY SANTADEEP DEY HERE.