Indian shooting sensation, Manu Bhaker, will be soon awarded India’s sporting arena’s highest accolade — the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award 2024. For her exemplary contributions and achievements in the sport of shooting, the President Of India, Sri. Droupadi Murmu will present this award on January 17, 2025, to Manu Bhaker.
A Bit About Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award
Instituted in 1991, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award has been given in honor of the legendary Indian hockey player, Major Dhyan Chand. This award will catapult Manu Bhaker into the history of sporting activities of India as one of the historic bronze medals at the Paris Olympics 2024 for players of international sports of excellence who have rendered outstanding performances at international levels.
Manu Bhaker’s Path Towards Glory
The road for Manu Bhaker in this landmark achievement had actually begun at the age of 14. She had passed through various kinds of sports in her life-tennis, boxing, and skating-before finally settling upon shooting. Once she decided that shooting was something for her, passion for the sport began at a rapid speed, and by the end of the week when she decided it, her father, being a very steady support to her, went out and bought a pistol to initiate what would go on to be a legendary career.
Manu Bhaker’s Meteoric Ascent
Manu Bhaker reached her peak within a very short span of time. Bhaker, who has crowned herself as National champion in 2017 at National Shooting Championships, had set a national record for producing 242.3 in 10m Air Pistol far higher than Olympian and former world No.1 Heena Sidhu. She did win a silver medal in Asian Junior Championships that year itself, thereby already consolidating her status as one of the brightest stars of young India.
Manu Bhaker’s First International Experience
2018 has been the season where Bhaker announced herself globally. She, at Guadalajara, made history breaching the qualification round junior world record and won her very first gold as a 16-year-old, which gave her the right to be an ISSF World Cup gold medallist when only 16 years old-a record that may be difficult for anyone else in the country. Manu Bhaker continued on the same winning spree, bagging multiple golds in single events and team mixed events also.
Manu Bhaker Breaks Records
Manu Bhaker shot a new Games record to clinch the gold in the women’s 10m Air Pistol event at the Commonwealth Games in Australia. This streak of success was topped by a good performance at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where she narrowly missed a medal as her pistol jammed at the crucial moment after topping the qualification round. Her efforts finally paid off when she won the bronze medal in the 10m Air Pistol at the 2024 Paris Olympics and so entered the league of the world’s best shooters.
Manu Bhaker; A Deserving Candidate For A Big Prize
This prize appreciates not only the feat she achieved at the competition level but also for the efforts that she had made and perseverance with which she managed to bring the attention of the whole world to Indian shooting. Bhaker has motivated thousands of youngsters all across the nation with the performances that she gave and with the saga of persistence which she tells about facing all kinds of adversities.
Bright Future For Manu Bhaker Ahead
Manu Bhaker’s name will be etched in the pages of history books next to sporting legends of India as she is one of the select few who receive the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The Government Of India will confer this distinction on Bhaker on January 17, 2025, in a ceremony that will forever etch her name in Indian sport history.
The Sportz Planet Desk,
Atharva Shetye