Manu Bhaker

Manu Bhaker (born 18 February 2002) is an Indian sport shooter. She won two bronze medals at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. She won bronze in the women's 10 metre air pistol event, becoming the first female shooter from India to win a medal at any Olympics. Subsequently, she won another bronze medal in the mixed 10 metre air pistol team event, becoming the first Indian woman to win two medals at an Olympics.

Previously, Bhaker won a gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games at the age of 16. Earlier, she had also become the youngest Indian to win a gold at ISSF World Cup in 2018.

Early life

Manu Bhaker was born in Goria village of Jhajjar district in Haryana. Her father, Ram Kishan Bhaker, works as a chief engineer in the Merchant Navy. Until the age of 14, she participated in several sports such as Huyen langlon, a Manipuri martial art, as well as boxing, tennis and skating, winning medals at the national games in these events.

As a 14-year-old, Bhaker decided to focus on shooting sport, and with an investment of Rs. 1,50,000 by her father, she decided to take up competitive shooting.

Career

Bhaker first tasted success at the international level when she won the silver medal at the 2017 Asian Junior Championships. In the 2017 National games held at Kerala, Bhaker won nine gold medals and defeated multiple World Cup medalist Heena Sidhu and broke Sidhu's record of 240.8 points, scoring 242.3 points in the final.

In the 2018 International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup held at Guadalajara, Mexico. Bhaker won the gold medal in the Women's 10-meter air pistol, defeating Mexico's Alejandra Zavala, a two-time champion. Bhaker scored 237.5 the final match against Zavalaa, who scored 237.1.

Bhaker won her second gold medal at the World Cup in the 10-meter Air Pistol mixed team event. She was paired with fellow countryman Om Prakash Mitharval. The pair shot a score of 476.1 points, defeating Sandra Reitz and Christian Reitz who scored 475.2.

Bhaker scored 388/400 points at 2018 Commonwealth Games in women's 10m air pistol qualifying round and qualified for the finals. In the final round of the women's 10m air pistol event during the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, she secured the gold medal with setting a new Commonwealth Games record of 240.9 points.

In 2018 Asian Games, she scored a game's record score of 593 in the qualification round of 25m Air pistol event. But she failed to win a medal there, as she finished 6th in the final. Eventually, her compatriot Rahi Sarnobat clinched the Gold in this event.

At the Youth Olympics 2018, Manu Bhaker shot 236.5 to stand at the top of the points table in the women's 10m air pistol event. The Indian flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the Youth Olympics is also the World Cup and Commonwealth Games gold medalist. The 16-year-old Manu became the first shooter from India and the first female athlete from India to grab a gold medal at the Youth Olympic Games.

National pistol coach Jaspal Rana was the mentor for Bhaker and said that “ Manu is mentally very strong" and we need to groom talented shooters like her for the 2020 Olympics”.

In February 2019 she won the gold medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team event at 2019 ISSF World Cup in Delhi.

In May 2019 she qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 10m pistol event via a fourth place finish at the Munich ISSF World Cup. This came days after her pistol jammed in the finals of the 25m pistol event when she was leading, eventually forcing her to forfeit due to her gun not being able to fire.

In all the four Pistol & Rifle ISSF World Cups in 2019, she won the gold medal in the 10m air pistol mixed event with Saurabh Chaudhry as her partner, making the pair a strong contender for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

She won the team gold for India in the women's 25m pistol team event at the 2022 Asian Games, along with Esha Singh and Rhythm Sangwan.

At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Bhaker won two bronze medals. First, she won bronze in the women's 10 metre air pistol event, becoming the first female shooter from India to win a medal at any Olympics. Next, she won another bronze medal in the mixed 10 metre air pistol team event, wherein she partnered with fellow team mate, Sarabjot Singh. She became first Indian to win two medals at an Olympics since independence of India.

International career

Olympic Games

year	Competition	Venue	Event	Rank	Score
2020	Olympic Games	Tokyo	10m air pistol women	12th	575
			25m pistol women	15th	582
			10m air pistol mixed team	7th	Stage 1: 582; Stage 2: 380
2024	Olympic Games	Paris	10m air pistol women		Qualification: 580 Final : 221.7
			10m air pistol mixed team		Qualification: 580 Final : 16-10
			25m pistol women		Qualification: 590 Final :

World Championship

Year	Competition	Venue	Event	Rank	Score
2018	ISSF World Championships	Changwon	10m air pistol women	13th	Score:574
			Mixed team 10m air pistol women	12th	Score:767
			25m pistol women	10th	Score:584

Youth Olympics

year	Competition	Venue	Event	Rank	Score
2018	Youth Olympic Games	Buenos Aires	10m air pistol women		Score:576; Final:236.5
			Mixed team 10m air pistol		score:751; Final:3

Junior World Championship

Year	Competition	Venue	Event	Rank	Score
2021	ISSF Junior World Championships	Lima	10m air pistol women		Score:574; Final:241.3

Junior World Cup

Year	Competition	Venue	Event	Rank	Score
2018	Junior World Cup	Sydney	10-meter air pistol women		Score:570; Final:235.9
			Mixed team 10m pistol air		Score:770; Final:478.9
			25m pistol women	4th	Score:574; Final:18
		Suhl	10m air pistol women		Score:573; Final:242.5
			25m pistol women	5th	Score:579; Final:19
			Mixed team 10m air pistol		Score:766; Final:474.4

World Cup

10m air pistol Event

Year	Competition	Venue	Event	Rank	Score
2021	ISSF World Cup	New Delhi	10m air pistol women		Score:577; Final:236.7
2019	ISSF World Cup	Putian	10m air pistol women		Score:578; Final:244.7
	ISSF World Cup	Munich	10m air pistol women	4th	Score:582; Final:201.0
		New Delhi	10m air pistol women	14th	Score:573
		Beijing	10m air pistol women	17th	Score:575
2018	ISSF World Cup	Guadalajara	10m air pistol women		Score:772; Final:337.5
		Changwon	10m air pistol women	30th	Score:571
		Munich	10m air pistol women	47th	Score:567

25m Pistol Event

Year	Competition	Venue	Event	Rank	Score
2018	ISSF World Cup	Guadalajara	25m pistol women	5th	Score:581; Final:19
2019	ISSF World Cup	New Delhi	25m pistol women	5th	Score:590; Final:22
		Munich	25m pistol women	5th	Score:585; Final:21
		Beijing	25m pistol women	17th	score:82

Mixed Team Event

Year	Competition	Venue	Event	Rank	Score
2021	ISSF World Cup	New Delhi	Mixed 10m air pistol		Score:384; Final:16
2019	ISSF World Cup Final	Putian	Mixed 10m air pistol		Score:387; Final:17
	ISSF World Cup	New Delhi	Mixed 10m air pistol		Score:778; Final:483.4
		Beijing	Mixed 10m air pistol		Score:482; Final:16
		Munich	Mixed 10m air pistol		Score:591; Final:17
2018	ISSF World Cup	Guadalajara	Mixed 10m air pistol		Score:770; Final:476.1
		Changwon	Mixed 10m air pistol	4th	Score:778; Final:378.6
		Munich	Mixed 10m air pistol	34th	Score:758

Advertising and legal actions

After winning two bronze medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Manu Bhaker's management, IOS Sports & Entertainment, took legal action against several brands for unauthorized use of her image in advertisements. This was in line with the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) guidelines, which require explicit permission for such use.