Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker – India's golden shooting combination ready for Tokyo challenge

When pistol shooters Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker were paired together in the mixed team at the ISSF World Cup here in 2019, the two teenagers were new to the pressure of major international tournaments. Still, they came out on top, winning a gold medal, and over the course of one year they put themselves on a hot streak in a new format to be competed at the Tokyo Olympics.

They swept through the World Cup series, winning gold medals in each of the four World Cups in 2019. When they rejoined forces on Monday after a year-long break in competition due to the pandemic, there was no rust in their partnership. They again struck gold, beating Javed Foroughi and Golnoush Sebghatollahi of Iran 16-12 in the gold medal match.

In mixed team events in pistol and rifle, India is emerging as a nearly unbeatable force and Chaudhary and Bhaker will be strong favourites for a medal at the Tokyo Olympics. In the gold medal match, Chaudhary and Bhaker cruised through at the start, leading 10-6 but Iran won the next two rounds to level 10-10. It was an intense fight from there on but India got the match-point (14-12) with Chaudhary crunching a 10.8 in the 14th series. They sealed it in the next round, with Chaudhary striking 10.7 and Bhaker 10.5.

The Indian contingent sitting in the stands cheered all through as Bhaker and Chaudhary went about their business calmly. After they sealed the gold, there was just a smile and handshake between them. Chaudhary, 18, and Bhaker, 19, are poles apart in personalities. Chaudhary comes from a farming background from Kalina village in Meerut. He has a very small circle of friends and is known to be reclusive. Chaudhary’s tryst with shooting started at a makeshift shooting range in Binauli, a few kms away from his home, under coach Amit Sheoran. First it was just a fleeting encounter – most youngsters in the belt start shooting to get a job in the Army – but soon Chaudhary was shooting big scores. The family decided to buy him a pistol and let him follow his passion.

“We never thought he had such talent. Like so many youngsters from our place, he also started shooting but then we noticed he was different. He was completely focused and always spoke about shooting. He hardly had any other passion, and doesn’t venture out from home that much, even during family functions he prefers to stay away,” said his brother Nitin, five years older to Chaudhary, who is also a shooter.

Nitin is now always beside his brother, managing his travel plans and taking care of his requirements. He was at the range on Monday. “He is very focused for the Tokyo Olympics. Even during the lockdown, it was all about training at home before he joined the camp. He was not disturbed when the Olympics were postponed. He is generally very calm,” said Nitin.

Bhaker, on the other hand, was a restless child. The daughter of a chief engineer of a ship, Ram Kishan Bhaker, she tried her hand in several sports, from martial arts to boxing, before trying out shooting in a school run by her family. Her father was surprised that his restless daughter would find her calling in a sport that demands patience and perseverance. A first-year student of political science from Lady Shri Ram College, Bhaker feels even in the mixed team format, the shooters need to work in their usual silos.

“Though it is a team event, we both are focusing on our own shots. If one has a bad shot, the other pulls the team through,” she said.

Both of them had their breakthrough year in 2018 as individual shooters. Chaudhary at the Asian Games with a 10m air pistol gold and Bhaker, also with gold at the Commonwealth Games, in women’s air pistol. In 2019, both earned quota places for the Tokyo Olympics. There has been no looking back for the two shooting prodigies.

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