Asiad: With chips down, Manu Bhaker misses mentor Jaspal in her corner

Manu Bhaker, India’s double medallist at the Paris Olympics, found herself under the media glare on a day when she wanted it the least after missing out on an elusive medal at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya. She came up short after finishing fifth in her favourite women’s 10m air pistol individual final and showed the scars of having to compete without her coach-cum-mentor, Jaspal Rana, by her side.

A multiple Asian Games gold medallist, Rana’s return as Manu’s personal coach proved a decisive move in 2024, when she became only the second Indian woman after PV Sindhu to win two Olympic medals at a single Games. However, the 49-year-old Rana’s death from a heart attack barely a few months ago left Manu shattered, and emotions ran high when the subject came up during her media interaction after the final.

"If I remember all those years... it’s not that you remember him once or twice, it stays with you. When a person has been a big part of your life, it stays," a visibly overwhelmed Manu said.

Bhaker’s fifth-place finish followed another narrow miss for India in the women’s 10m air pistol team event, where the team finished fourth — just two inner-10 shots short of a podium finish.

While Indian shooters have started delivering on the range — they accounted for the second-highest number of medals from a single discipline at the Hangzhou Asian Games, with a haul of 22, behind athletics’ 29 — it is Manu who invariably finds herself under the scanner after being hailed as a young sensation since Tokyo 2020.

A disappointing show in Tokyo had turned the heat on her, somewhat unfairly, and she admitted to contemplating quitting the sport. Jaspal, however, had helped steer her resurgence after they joined forces in 2023.

The face of Indian shooting has one more shot at a medal at these Games, when she competes in the women’s 25m sport pistol event on 27-28 September. She will no doubt try to adhere to one of her mentor’s key pieces of advice.

"He was just so adamant on process always — that you have to, any given day, any given point of your life, whenever you shoot, you have to be able to give your best performance and follow your process," Manu said on Wednesday.

The individual event final brought a frustrating finish for Manu after a promising start. The 24-year-old had qualified third for the 10m air pistol individual final but finished fifth with 181.1 points, exiting after her 18th shot.

South Korea’s Choo Gaeun won gold with 246.3 points, setting an Asian record. China’s Shen Yiyao took silver with 241.3, while Jiang Ranxin secured bronze with 221.6.

The result was a setback for a shooter who entered the final among the leading qualifiers, but veteran teammate Mairaj Ahmed Khan backed her after the event, describing her as a champion and stressing that fluctuations are part of competition.

"She is an athlete — it’s not necessary that she will win a gold medal every single time," he told ANI in an interview.