By Vivek Prabhakar Singh
New Delhi [India], January 17 : After being felicitated with the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, India's two-time Olympic medalist shooter Manu Bhaker said that she has been training for the last two and a half months regularly and would be in action in competitions starting at month-end and the next month.
Double Olympic medalist Manu, World Chess Champion Gukesh Dommaraju, Indian men's hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh and Para Athlete Praveen Kumar were awarded the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award by the President of India, Draupadi Murmu at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on Friday.
Speaking to ANI, Bhaker said, "It is an honour to receive the Khel Ratna. It is one of the biggest honours in the country. This will inspire me to work harder in the future and win more medals for the country."
On her return to competitions, she added, "I have been training for the last two and a half months regularly. Competitions are coming end of this month and next month."
Bhaker opened India's medal tally in the Olympics after she secured third place in the women's individual 10m air pistol event, becoming the first-ever woman shooter to win an Olympic medal for India. Following that, Sarabjot Singh and Bhaker won the bronze medal in the 10m air pistol (mixed team) event, which was India's first-ever shooting team medal.
In her final event, she narrowly missed out on the historic grand treble and finished fourth in the women's 25m pistol shooting event. She missed out on the opportunity to become the first Indian to win three medals at the Olympics.
The young shooter's sweet redemption came after a disappointing Tokyo Olympics campaign in 2021, where a malfunction in her gun cost her a medal. During the 10 m air pistol qualification round during the Tokyo Olympics, her gun malfunctioned, which caused her to lose a lot of time. She was left with a very short amount of time to carry out her quota of shots. She missed the top-eight finish required to qualify for the final round and finished at the 12th spot. In the 25-metre pistol event, she failed to qualify further, finishing in the 15th spot. Her 10 m air pistol mixed team event did not go well either, as she finished in seventh overall.
Coming to other Khel Ratna awardees, Gukesh's success story was one of the major highlights of Indian sports in 2024. He made history in December by defeating China's Ding Liren in the decisive 14th game of the FIDE World Championship match in Singapore. The championship, tied at 6.5-6.5 heading into the final game, saw a stellar performance from Gukesh, who secured a 7.5-6.5 victory, becoming the youngest world champion ever at 18. He also became India's second world chess champion after Viswanathan Anand.
Para Athlete, Praveen Kumar won a Gold in the Men's High Jump T64 at the Paralympics 2024.
Harmanpreet Singh had been part of the Tokyo Olympics where India had won the Hockey bronze. He has also been nominated for FIH Player of the Year. Under his leadership, the India team won a bronze medal in the Paris Olympics.
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