India at Olympics 2021: Manu Bhaker's pistol malfunctioned during 10m qualifications, ran out of time for the last shot

India started Day 2 at the 2021 Olympics on a disappointing note. Both female Indian pistol shooters (Yashaswini Deswal and Manu Bhaker) failed to qualify for the finals of the Women's 10 M Air Pistol event.

Yashaswini Deswal and Manu Bhaker are ranked World No. 1 and World No. 2 respectively. Hence it was unexpected to see them crashing out in the qualification stages. It is another major setback for the Indian shooting team, who had a string of disappointing results on Day 1.

Saurabh Chaudhary was the only Indian shooter to make it into the Top 8. After showing so much promise prior to the Olympics, Bhaker and Deswal only managed to finish 12th and 13th in the qualifying round. Here's what happened during the event.

Bad news for 🇮🇳 in shooting! Manu Bhaker and Yashaswini Deswal both crash out in the qualification round of the 10m Air Pistol Women’s event at #Tokyo2020 😣They finished 12th and 13th respectively.#shooting #IND #TeamIndia #Olympics pic.twitter.com/EjQZe4dNsa

— Sportskeeda India (@Sportskeeda) July 25, 2021

Checkout: Tokyo Olympics Medal Tally

India's shooting misery continues at Olympics 2021

Manu Bhaker and Yashaswini Deswal were the favourites to finish on the podium in Tokyo. Both had successful ISSF World Cup campaigns earlier this year. Deswal only managed to score 574/600 which pushed her out of the qualifying mark to reach the final. She didn't manage to shoot enough 'X's in her attempts which could have helped her scores.

On the other hand, Manu Bhaker got off to a flying start. The Haryana shooter scored a stunning 98 in her first series. But something happened during the second series that completely derailed her concentration. Here's what transpired during the event.

Manu Bhaker had a circuit malfunction in her pistol

The young prodigy from India had a circuit malfunction in her pistol during the second series. Her pistol stopped functioning midway, which meant that she had to go to the test tent with her coach and a member from the jury to replace it. She was given a spare tested pistol to complete her event. All of this took up her valuable time. She lost six precious minutes in her qualifying campaign (out of the 75 allotted to each shooter).

Break-The electronic trigger of Manu Bhaker’s pistol had a circuit malfunction in the middle of the second series. It meant she had to go to the test tent with the coach and a member of the jury where it was replaced with a spare tested and then she returned. She lost huge time.

— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) July 25, 2021

The loss of time significantly hampered her performance. The shooter only managed a 95 and 94 in the following series. However, Bhaker staged a comeback by recording 98 in the 5th series and finished with a 95 in the sixth series.

Her last shot fetched only 8 points and it ended her hopes of reaching the finals. Had she shot an inner 10, she would have tied with Celine Goberville of France and Ukraine's Olena Kostevych, and tied on scores (577) and 10x shots (15).

However, the rule dictates that in case scores are tied after six rounds, the person with higher 10x shots, gets the nod. If the 10x shots are also tied, the final set scores are used as a metric to determine the winner.

Hence, she would have qualified for the finals by ranking seventh, courtesy of her higher scores (97) in the final set had she scored a 10x. Instead, Manu ended up in the 12th position with 575 points (95 in the final round).

Manu has two new Morini pistols for air. If there was a problem with trigger, it takes less than a minute to fix it and use next weapon. Also news coming from Tokyo is coach Ronak Pandit was touching her weapon before the match? What was it?

— Kannan (@kannandelhi) July 25, 2021

Manu and Yashaswini have a second chance in the mixed team event

Manu Bhaker and Yashaswini Deswal both have mixed team events coming up next. India has not had great results in shooting so far but that could change when they take the stage for the mixed team events next.

Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary have been phenomenal together. Both of them could still help India win a medal. Even Yashaswini Deswal and Abhishek Verma could be a big threat in this mixed event. Both of them are calm and composed, and are prime contenders to grab a podium finish.