India’s top medal prospects at Tokyo Olympics and their main challengers: Manu Bhaker

Heading into the Tokyo Olympics, India's shooting contingent will have huge expectations riding on them. And among the 15 shooters, the biggest medal hope will probably rest on Manu Bhaker, still not out of her teens, but a renowned world-beater several times over already.

Manu Bhaker will be shooting in the women’s 10m air pistol as well as in the 25m pistol events at Tokyo 2020. She will also compete in the new mixed events category, pairing up with another teenager Saurabh Chaudhary.

While Bhaker will compete in the quota spot earned by Chinki Yadav in 25m pistol, her main event remains the 10m air pistol in which she has had the most success so far.

She has won several ISSF World Cup gold medals in the event. Her golds at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires and the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast have also come in the 10m air pistol.

Manu Bhaker earned India a Tokyo 2020 10m air pistol quota with a fourth-place finish at the 2019 ISSF World Cup in Munich and was chosen to fill up the slot in what will be her maiden Olympics.

Earlier this year, she won silver in 10m air pistol at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi while taking the gold in the mixed team event with Chaudhary.

The 19-year old from Haryana is currently second in the ISSF women’s 10m air pistol world rankings behind her compatriot Yashaswini Singh Deswal, who will also be one of her main rivals at the Olympics.

Yashaswini Singh Deswal (India)

Top achievements: ISSF World Cup gold (2019 Rio de Janeiro and 2021 New Delhi), ISSF Junior World Championships gold (2017 Suhl, Germany), ISSF Junior World Cup gold (2016 Qabala, Azerbaijan) (all in 10m pistol)

What makes her special? The 24-year old Yashaswini Singh Deswal is No 1 in the women’s 10m air pistol rankings for Tokyo 2020.

In March 2021, Yashaswini Singh Deswal won the gold medal at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi, pipping Manu Bhaker by 2.1 points in the 10m air pistol final.

In what was a tightly-fought contest, Yashaswini Singh Deswal shot 238.8 compared to Manu Bhaker’s 236.7. The duo had been neck and neck in the qualification as well, with Deswal topping the field and Bhaker coming in right behind her.

Deswal had said then that her focus was on her mental temperament and technique in the run-up to the Tokyo Olympics.

“Ultimately competition was with myself only because (the one) who can win with oneself can win against the world,” Deswal had said.

Regardless of who wins, the rivalry between Manu Bhaker and Yashaswini Deswal bodes well for India at Tokyo Olympics.

Anna Korakaki (Greece)

Top achievements: 2016 Rio Olympics (25m pistol gold, 10m pistol bronze), World Championships gold (2018 Changwon, 10m pistol)

What makes her special? Anna Korakaki is the first Greek woman to win two Olympic medals in the same competition, with gold in 25m pistol and bronze in 10m air pistol at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She achieved this when she was only 20 and in her maiden Olympics.

Anna Korakaki holds the qualification joint world record in 10m air pistol, having shot a score of 587 at the 2018 World Cup in Fort Benning, USA. She made the cut for Tokyo 2020 by winning gold at the 2018 World Championships.

Korakaki is ranked fourth in the women’s 10m air pistol rankings and will also jointly lead the Parade of Nations at the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony, with Greece having named a female Olympics flag-bearer for the first time.

Greece, as the country of origin for the Olympic Games, traditionally leads the Parade of Nations during the Summer Games’ opening ceremonies.

Anna Korakak has the experience of having handled the pressure of an Olympics final before, and having come out on top of it, something Bhaker and Deswal are yet to go through.

Zorana Arunovic (Serbia)

Top achievements: World Championships (gold, 2010 Munich; gold, 2014 Granada, team event; silver, 2018 Changwon), European Games (gold, 2019 Minsk and 2015 Baku) (all 10m air pistol)

What makes her special? The 34-year old veteran from Serbia is third in the women’s 10m air pistol rankings for Tokyo 2020, behind only Deswal and Bhaker.

Like Korakaki, she qualified for the Tokyo Olympics at the 2018 World Championships in Changwon, South Korea too, taking silver behind the Greek shooter.

Zorana Arunovic will hope that her third Olympic outing at Tokyo 2020 will be the charm after finishing seventh and 11th at London 2012 and Rio 2016 respectively.

She had just missed out on bronze in 25m pistol at the London Olympics, finishing fourth.

Arunovic became interested in the sport because of her elder sister Jelena, who has also been her long-time coach.

She shot a world-record 246.9 in women’s 10m air pistol at the European Championships in Maribor, Slovenia in 2017.