Paris, July 29 (HS). India's shooting campaign at the Paris Olympics 2024 got another positive breakthrough when the pair of Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh finished third in the 10m air pistol mixed team qualification on Monday, securing their place in the bronze medal match.
Manu-Sarabjot, who shot a total of 580-20x to finish third, will face fourth-placed South Korea, which shot 579-18x. The gold medal match will be played between Turkiye (582-18x) and Serbia (581-24x). Rhythm Sangwan and Arjun Singh Cheema finished 10th and hence missed out on the medal match.
In the qualification round of the mixed team 10m air pistol event, each team member had to fire a total of 30 shots in a period of 30 minutes. Each series of shots consisted of 10 shots per player and a total of 20 shots. The top four teams got the privilege of qualifying for the medal round, in which the top two teams will fight for gold and the third and fourth placed teams will fight for bronze.
The team of Rhythm and Cheema finished fifth with 194 points at the end of their first series of shots. Both players scored 97 points each. The second team Manu-Sarabjot finished sixth with 193 points, with Manu scoring 98 and Sarabjot scoring 95. In their second series, Manu and Sarabjot scored a total of 195 points, with Manu scoring 98 and Sarabjot scoring 97.
On the other hand, Rhythm and Cheema scored 192 points in their second series, with Rhythm scoring 99 and Cheema scoring 93. In their third series, Manu-Sarabjot scored 192 points, with Manu scoring 95 and Sarabjot scoring 97. On the other hand, Rhythm and Cheema scored 190 points, with Rhythm scoring 92 and Cheema scoring 98. Manu-Sarabjot's final score at the end of all three series was 580-20x and Rhythm-Cheema's combined score was 576-14x, but they finished 10th.
It is worth noting that Bhaker finished third in the final of the women's 10m air pistol event on Sunday to win the bronze medal. She became the first Indian woman to win a medal in shooting at the Olympics.
Bhaker won the bronze medal with a score of 221.7 to give India its first medal in the ongoing mega event. She created history by becoming the first Indian woman in 20 years to reach the final of an individual shooting event at the Olympics since Suma Shirur in 2004. South Korea's Ye Jin won the gold medal with an Olympic record of 243.2 points. Her compatriot Kim Yeji won the silver medal with 241.3 points.