Manu Bhaker confident of hitting peak form at Tokyo Olympics
India's shooting star Manu Bhaker is confident of maintaining her game and hitting peak form in next year's Tokyo Olympics. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics had been postponed to next year in wake of of the coronavirus pandemic. Bhaker is hopeful that the Olympic Games will go ahead as scheduled in 2021. Here's what the shooter had to say.
'I am hopeful of the Olympics taking place next year'
"Yes, the Indian shooters were in great form heading into the Games, but health is a bigger concern," said Bhaker to PTI. "I am very hopeful of the Olympics taking place next year and also confident of maintaining my game and hitting peak form there. This is a difficult time for the world but I have no negative thoughts and I am mentally prepared."
She enjoyed a successful season last year
Bhaker had earlier secured an Olympic quota for India in the women's 10m air pistol event. She enjoyed a successful season last year where she won five World Cup gold medals in individual and team events. Bhaker burst on to the national scene at the start of 2018 with a victory at the ISSF World Cup in Mexico. She is a special talent.
Bhaker gets an electronic target system installed at her house
Bhaker recently got an electronic target system installed at her makeshift shooting range in her home. She replaced the archaic manual machine. "I have recently got the machine installed at my home and this will be surely more beneficial in my training. I was facing lost of issues with the old machine as it was manual. The thread would come off," she said.
Key details about Bhaker's electronic target system
The target HS10 machine from Swiss company SIUS Ascor is designed for all airguns for a distance ranging from 10 to 20 meters. Some of the striking features of the machine are its accuracy, integrated high-intensity LED target illumination, low operating costs (no paper rolls/rubber rolls) and its suitability for outdoor shooting.
Bhaker keen to prepare at home with no outdoor action
"Since it is unlikely that there will be any outdoor action and competitions for another three-four months, I thought it will be useful to get this installed at this point in time," the Indian shooter added.