"I was clueless in the beginning...": Olympic medalist Bhaker opens up on journey as shooter

India's double Olympics medalist shooter Manu Bhaker opened up on the reason why she started playing her sport and what helped her bounce back from the heartbreak of Tokyo 2020 Olympics when her gun malfunctioned during one of the events and caused her to return back home without a medal. Bhaker held a 'Q/A session' with her fans on Sunday evening on Instagram. Opening up on the reason she started shooting and if it was what she wanted to do since the start, Manu stated that though she was clueless about her career initially and tried different sports, but she always wanted to be financially independent and do something good with her life.

"Honestly, I was clueless in the beginning, I was always trying different things or different sports every second day, but what I always wanted was to become financially independent and do something good with my life. I am quite competitive, when I started shooting, I wanted to do better than all. Although you can't always win but you can at least try to do better everyday.," said Bhaker.

On being asked that how she bounced back after downfall in shooting during Tokyo Olympics, she said that the idea of "slow and steady wins the race" was in her mind and she believes that "ups and downs are inseparable parts of life". She also said that when she wanted to give up following the heartbreak at Tokyo 2020 Olympics, it was her mother and coach, Jaspal Rana, who is also a shooting legend in himself, were his "pillars of strength".

"When I really wanted to give up, my mother and my coach Jaspal sir, were the pillar of strength for me. Sometimes all you need is right guidance and good people around you and lots of patience," she added.

Bhaker also recalled that during the Olympics, she was "very nervous, almost afraid".

"But I kept telling myself to stay calm and give my best in each shot. I looked up to my coach, Jaspal sir, whenever I needed more courage. "Focus on your karma, forgot about the result" the better your karma is, the better your result will be," she added.

At the Paris Olympics, Bhaker and her partner Sarabjot Singh secured bronze in the 10 M Air Pistol Mixed team event. The duo of Manu and Sarabjot defeated South Korea's Lee Wonho and Oh Ye Jin 16-10 in the bronze medal play-off match. Both Manu and Sarabjot shot consistently with regular 10s in the series against the South Koreans to claim India's second medal.

Manu Bhaker opened India's medal tally in the Olympics after she secured third place in the women's individual 10m air pistol event, becoming the first-ever woman shooter to win an Olympic medal for India.Following that, Sarabjot Singh and Bhaker won the bronze medal in the 10m air pistol (mixed team) event, which was India's first-ever shooting team medal. In her final event, she narrowly missed out on the historic grand treble and finished fourth in the women's 25m pistol shooting event. She missed out on the opportunity to become the first Indian to win three medals at the Olympics. (ANI)