When the duo won the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team event bronze medal match against Korea 16-10, Sarabjot Singh, a gunner, who “gave up football to pursue shooting”, and Manu Bhaker bagged India’s second medal at the Paris Olympics.
The nation’s second medal was claimed by the Indian team at Chateauroux shooting range after they defeated Korean team of Lee Wonoho and Oh Yeh Jin 16–10.
Three days before this event in his life, Sarabjot had been going through a tough period with disappointment over losing the single championship. He felt like he had a lot to prove.
Sarabjot’s first shot for India fetched just 8.6 points while Bhaker took 10.2 shots resulting in an overall score of 18.8. The Koreans triumphed in round one with a tally of 20.5 to take a two-zero lead.
Medals are awarded to teams that have scored the most points – usually sixteen – at mixed-team tournaments.
Bhaker proved useful as she delivered when her team was trailing at (0-2), In addition, Sarbjot exploited her reliability as they went on to win four successive games which increased their advantage to (8-2).
She was so confident that during those thirteen rounds of competition, only three times did her score fall below ten.
They were unable to equal their opponents hence succumbed under pressure and lost by 16 goals against ten scores; this made it impossible for them to have parity with others.”
When he reached thirteen years old, Sarabjot thought about becoming a footballer before he saw some kids brandishing air rifles within make-shift ranges during a summer camp at Ambala’s Bhagirath Public School and went back home telling his father that he wanted him to be involved in shooting instead.
It happened in 2014. Sarbjot’s father Jitender Singh, a farmer, told his son that the sport is pretty expensive. But eventually, after Sarabjot insisted for months, he agreed.
It’s one choice that the family will never look back on especially with everything that Sarabjot has achieved in the international circuits.
He has already bagged a senior ISSF World Cup gold at 10m air pistol.
On the domestic circuit he has been national champion twice because of his precision and composedness.
As of now, Sarabjot’s tally includes 2 World Championships gold medals, 3 World Cup gold medals, 1 ISSF Junior World Cup gold medal, 1 ISSF Junior Cup gold medal plus two silvers and two more at silver and bronze level in the Asian championships respectively.
Abhishek Rana his coach has always been credited by him as responsible for transforming him into a champion.
