Asian Games 2018: Off-field issues reason for Manu Bhaker's blank show?

Manu Bhaker

When Manu Bhaker, 16, won her maiden gold medal at the ISSF Shooting World Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico in March this year, her family members, friends and neighbours back home in Goria village of Haryana's Jhajjhar district were over the moon. However, junior national coach Jaspal Rana, was worried that she might not be able to maintain this form across a longer period having won a medal so early in her career.

Pressure game
Rana, a four-time Asian Games gold medal-winning pistol ace, hit bullseye. At the Asian Games here, Manu, who entered three events - mixed team, 10m air pistol and 25m pistol - has drawn a blank. A young mind often wanders. However, in Manu's case, the mind may have been bogged down by pressure beyond the shooting range.

In the run-up to the Asian Games, India's former World No 1 pistol shooter Heena Sidhu had lashed out at the National Rifles Association of India (NRAI) for picking Manu over her for the mixed team event. She even met NRAI chief Raninder Singh regarding the issue but the federation cited Manu's Commonwealth Games gold medal in their selection.

In the Asian Games mixed team event, Manu and Abhishek Verma failed to even reach the finals. In her second event, 25m pistol, Manu shot a Games record of 593 in qualifying, but finished sixth in the final. And finally on Friday, Manu qualified for the final of the 10m air pistol event in third place, but ended up fifth.

If the selection controversy wasn't enough, Manu, in an interview with AFP, before these Games said she had banned her parents from coming on foreign tours because they put restrictions on her eating and behaviour.

Her struggle with this new-found fame evoked a response from India's only individual Olympic gold medal-winning shooter Abhinav Bindra. "Dear Manu - this is the life you have signed on for. It's your choice. These are not sacrifices, this is a privileged life," Bindra wrote on Twitter.

On the personal front, Manu is like any teenager. Her father Ramkishen says she enjoys watching cartoons Chhota Bheem and Tom & Jerry and relishes chocolates. Now, sweets are a no-no in a sport like shooting where every pulse counts. So, the restrictions could have hit her here too. India's shot gun coach Mansher Singh felt young shooters deserve a free hand. "They should be allowed to do what they want if it helps them relax before a competition," he said.

Burnout problem
NRAI's Observer for rifle and pistol event Ronak Pandit felt burnout is a major issue for a shooter's dip in form given the amount of junior and senior shooting events world over besides selection trials and domestic competitions. "But younger shooters can recover better," said Pandit.

Manu's mentor and junior national pistol coach Jaspal Rana felt she will bounce back: "We will sit and have a talk. She must be prepared to take failure in her stride. I'm confident she will start shooting well again." Manu heads to Changwon, Korea for the ISSF World Championships (August 31 to September 14) next hoping her pistol starts talking before she has to face some tough questions.

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