Manu Bhaker

Manu Bhaker is an Indian woman shooter born on 18th February, 2002. She hails from Goria village in Haryana’s Jhajjar district. She began to represent India at senior-level internationally at the young age of 16 in 2018. With her early success on an international stage, Manu Bhaker has established herself as a rising shooting star.

Manu Bhakar- Early Life, Family & Background

Manu Bhakar was born to Ram Kishan Bhaker and Sumedha Bhaker. Her father works as a chief engineer in the Merchant Navy.

At a young age, Manu tried her hands on various sports including tennis, boxing, skating, Huyen Langlon. Till the age of 14, Manu Bhaker had excelled well in these sports and started winning medals at national levels before she switched her focus to shooting.

Manu Bhaker received a monthly investment of Rs. 150000 from her father after she decided to take up competitive shooting.

Manu Bhakar Biography

Manu Bhaker’s breakthrough in her shooting came at an international level. She won her 1st international medal by clinching Silver at the 2017 Asian Junior Championships.

After tasting success on an international stage, Manu Bhaker won 9 Gold medals at the 2017 National Games held in Kerala. She defeated 2-time World Cup Gold medallist Heena Sidhu and bettered her national record of 240.8 points by scoring 242.3 points.

After receiving an international breakthrough at the 2017 Asian Junior Championships, Manu Bhaker won her 1st international Gold medal at the 2018 Junior World Cup in 10m air pistol women, followed by another Gold medal in the mixed team 10m air pistol held in Sydney, Australia.

At the 2018 Junior World Cup held at Suhl in Germany, Bhakar won a Gold and a Silver in 10m air pistol and mixed team 10m air pistol respectively. In the same year, Manu Bhaker became the 1st female athlete and shooter from India to win a Gold medal at the 2018 Youth Olympics. Bhaker won 4 Gold medals and a Silver medal while representing India at the junior level on an international stage.

Manu Bhakar Achievements

After tasting her success at the junior level on an international stage, Manu Bhaker began to taste similar success at the senior level. She shot to fame when she became the youngest Indian to win the Gold medal at the 2018 ISSF World Cup held in Guadalajara, Mexico by defeating 2-time Gold medallist Alejandra Zavala of Mexico in a 10m air pistol event. She had also bagged another Gold medal in the mixed team 10m air pistol.

At the 2018 Commonwealth Games held at Gold Coast in Australia, she won another Gold medal in 10m air pistol within weeks after winning 2 Gold medals at the ISSF World Cup and also set a Commonwealth Games record of 240.9 points.

Manu Bhaker took part in the 2018 Asian Games and set a game’s record score of 593 points in the qualification round of the 25m air pistol event, but she failed to win a medal in the final.

In 2019, she bagged a total of 10 Gold medals. 4 Gold medals at the ISSF World Cup 2019 (one each in Delhi, Bejing, Munich, and Rio de Janeiro) in mixed team 10m air pistol, 2 Golds each at Asian Shooting Championships, Asian Airgun Championships and ISSF World Cup Final in 10m air pistol and mixed team 10m air pistol events.

Manu Bhaker booked her ticket to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics after she finished 4th place in the final of the 10m air pistol event at the ISSF World Cup held in Munich, Germany. She has accumulated 17 Gold medals and 2 Silvers in her international career.