Manu Bhaker qualifies for 25m sports pistol in second position at Olympics

CHATEAUROUX: Indian pistol shooter Manu Bhaker, aiming for a hat-trick of Olympic medals here, came up with a superb performance in 25m sports pistol, to finish second in qualification and book a place in the final in Chateauroux on Friday.

The 22-year-old shooter, who already has two bronze medals in her kitty in 10m women’s air pistol and 10m air pistol mixed team along with Sarabjot Singh, shot an amazing 294 in the ‘precision’ round and was even more menacing in the rapid round to score 296 and aggregating 590.

She is just two points behind leader Veronika Major of Hungary, who shot an aggregate of 592 (294 and 298) which helped her equal the Olympic record.

India has won all three medals so far in shooting, with Manu bagging two and Swapnil Kusale taking the bronze in 50m rifle three-positions on Thursday.