Double Olympic medallist star India pistol shooter Manu Bhaker is pretty satisfied with her return to competitive shooting after a glorious Paris Olympics campaign and has now set her sights on producing a consistent performance and securing the gold at the season-ending World Championships in Cairo, Egypt from November 6-16 later this year.
Manu, 22, won an unprecedented two bronze medals at the Paris Games and became the first Indian player to win two medals at the same Olympics since Independence. She won the bronze medal in the 10m air pistol as well as bronze in the 10 m air pistol mixed team in Paris.
In 2018, Manu made history as the youngest Indian shooter to win a World Cup gold at just 16.
After a prolonged break following Paris, she returned to competitive shooting at the National Shooting Trials at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range near New Delhi earlier this month where she finished second behind Rhythm Sangwan.
But she is satisfied with her comeback and hopes to earn more laurels for the country in the future.
Honestly, it was a pretty decent comeback. It was good and I am satisfied with what I did in the trials.
We have World Cups in April, and then we have some domestic competitions in June and after that, we have another World Cup in Munich and after that, we have the World Championships, probably in late October or November. Yes, I am peaking for the World Championships.
For her stupendous 2024 season, which includes two Olympic medals, Manu was awarded the BBC Sportswomen of the Year for 2024 in a glittering function here last night.
I am feeling very happy to win the award, I would like to thank BBC for the big honour. For me, awards were always an inspiration. I will keep on the hard work and try to give my best in future..
Manu has been dealing with elbow issues post the Paris Olympics, but she said she and her team are working on fixing the issues.
I am working on my elbow, but some issues were always there. But I have time till February end to work on this issue. My entire team in OGQ is working on me. We are planning how to get things better and planning is needed going forward..
Usually shooters have common issues, wrist elbow, shoulder, and stamina and I am also facing issues with these but it's nothing to be very worried about or very serious or something. We are working on these areas and it should be fine.