Manu Bhaker misses historic Olympic medal hat-trick, finishes fourth in 25m Pistol shoot-off

At the end of the women's 25m pistol final on Saturday at the Chateauroux shooting range, Manu Bhaker narrowly missed becoming India's first-ever athlete to win three individual Olympic medals in a single Games. The 22-year-old Indian shooter lost in a shoot-off to Hungary's Veronika Major, finishing fourth in the women's 25m pistol final. Korea's Jiin Yang clinched gold, beating France's Camille Jedrzejewski in a shoot-off. Jedrzejewski took silver, securing second place.

Manu, who had already made history by becoming the first Indian to win two medals in one edition of the Olympics, finished with a total score of 28. She had earlier won bronze medals in the 10m women's air pistol and the 10m air pistol mixed team event with Sarabjot Singh. Her recent success is attributed to a renewed partnership with former shooter-turned-coach Jaspal Rana, which has significantly improved her performance.

The 25m pistol final saw a dramatic turn of events. Manu started in sixth place after hitting just two out of her first five shots. However, she quickly improved, hitting four targets in her second series and moving up to fourth place. By this point, Yang led with eight hits, while Manu accumulated six hits, positioning herself close to the leaders.

Manu's remarkable consistency continued as she hit another four targets, tying for third place with Jedrzejewski at 18 points each. Yang led with 20 points, and Major was in second place with 19 points. A brilliant performance of five hits out of five in the subsequent series elevated Manu to a tie for second place with Jedrzejewski at 22 points each. Yang extended her lead to 28 points, while Major fell to fourth place.

The intense competition culminated in a shoot-off between Manu and Major after both scored 28 points. In the decisive moment, Manu missed two shots, while Major missed just one, resulting in Manu finishing fourth. Despite the setback, Manu's journey in the 25m pistol event was nothing short of remarkable, having secured second place in the qualification rounds with a score of 592.