Manu Bhaker, a double Olympic medallist, has taken the ISSF World Championships setback to heart, admitting that she “cannot win every day” while praising her compatriots’ efforts.
Many in the shooting community are a little taken aback that Bhaker was not one of the 13 Indian medallists in the recently finished competition.
“I was aiming (for medals) at the World Championships. My performance was good, scored decently, couldn’t make it to the podium. My teammate Esha Singh did… in sports you cannot win every day, sometimes you lose as well,” Bhaker said during an event on Tuesday.
“For me it is like India should win a medal and it shouldn’t be about me or someone else winning it. As long as India is winning any medal, I am cheering for it, be it any sports,” she added.
The 23-year-old pistol ace was speaking at the ASMITA (Achieving Sports Milestone by Inspiring Women) social media launch.
Bhaker hasn’t exactly lit the stage on fire this year after the Olympic high in Paris, but her bronze at the Asian Shooting Championship’s women’s 10-meter air pistol competition in August is still one of her highlights for 2025.
Bhaker stated that specially-abled athletes are an example to everyone.
With Dhanush Srikanth defending his men’s 10m air rifle championship with a new world record score of 252.2 and Mohammad Vania taking home the silver in the same event, the shooters claimed India’s first medals at the ongoing Tokyo Deaflympics.
“All the specially abled athletes are an inspiration and motivate us a lot. We learn a lot from them, the fighting spirit they showcase is incredible and we all look up to them. I would like to extend my heartiest congratulations to all of them and if they need any kind of help or support we’ll be there.”
According to Bhaker, the ASMITA effort will aid in altering rural residents’ perceptions about women who want to succeed in sports.
“Initiatives like this will play a major role in transforming the mentality about girls in sports. Coming from a rural background myself, I have face a few issues if not many regarding mentality, like she is a girl and shouldn’t play sports and doesn’t belong here.
“We still have this kind of mentality in few parts of our country. So, ASMITA will surely play a major role in changing that. If women are given equal chances just like men, they can do well.
“I would like to highlight that in the last few Olympic Games, women have done tremendously well. I just want to say that it is high time now that we should support our women and also support ASMITA to become a bigger success than Khelo India.”
Bhaker became the first athlete from independent India to win two medals at a single Olympic Games in Paris last year.
