Paris Olympics 2024: Manu Bhaker qualifies for 10m air pistol finals, Rhythm Sangwan knocked out

Manu Bhaker performed brilliantly in the 10m air pistol qualification round, where she secured a place in the finals at the ongoing Paris Olympic Games. Meanwhile, Rhythm Sangwan did not put her best foot and was knocked out in the qualifiers.

Indian shooter Manu Bhaker stormed into the finals of the women's 10m air pistol after a stunning show in the event's qualification round on Saturday. In the 45-athlete field, Manu finished third with a scoreline of 580-27x. Sangwan failed to reach into the finals.

Manu was quick to race off the blocks. She was consistent right from the opening series as she got 97/100 in the 10-shot first series with all seven 10s being the inner 10s. The 22-year-old Indian collected 97 in the second series too. At the halfway mark in the six-series event, Manu had 292/300 and was set for the required top-eight finish for the finals.

Rhythm Sangwan was not at the best, having hit 286/300 at the halfway stage. She ended the event 573-14x and finished 15th in the field. Sangwan would rue the second series. After hitting 97/100 in the first series, Sangwan endured a tough second series, hitting 92 in those 10 shots. She bounced back with another 97 and 96 but could not find the 10s as consistently as she would have liked. 

The top eight shooters qualify for the final, which is scheduled to take place tomorrow, Sunday at 3:30 PM IST. The qualification round was won by Hungary's Veronika Major, who hit a total of 588-22x. Korea's Oh Ye Jin was second with 582-20x, with Manu being third. 

Here are the top eight shooters qualified for the final:

Veronika Major (HUN): 582

Oh Ye Jin (KOR): 582

Manu Bhaker (IND): 580

Thu Vinh Trinh (VIE): 578

Kim Yeji (KOR): 578

Li Xue (CHN): 577

Sevval Tarhan (TUR): 577

Jiang Ranxin (CHN): 577

Before this, India had an underwhelming start to the shooting with no Indian being able to make it to the finals in the opening two events. The two 10m air rifle mixed teams finished 6th and 12th in the 28-team event as they could not go into the top-four finish required for the medal matches. 

In the men's 10m air pistol event, Sarabjot Singh missed on proceeding to the final by a whisker as he finished 9th in the 33-athlete arena. Arjun Singh Cheema, the other shooter, finished 18th.