A 16-year-old girl from Haryana—Manu Bhaker—became an internet sensation overnight after she bagged two gold medals for India in two different events in as many days at the ISSF World Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico.
A day after clinching gold in the 10m air pistol individual event on March 5, Manu Bhaker shot her way to a second successive gold medal in a mixed team event.
According to reports, the 11th standard student could be the youngest-ever to win senior World Cup gold medals for India, however, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) failed to confirm so.
Manu Bhaker took to shooting just a little over two years ago. Bhaker’s tryst with shooting began when her father took her to the range and asked her to try her hand at the sport. She fired a few shots that hit bull’s eye and the rest is history.
Soon after clinching two gold medals for India, the Jhajjar girl said, “It just happens. I don’t think about them. At times I don’t even know what the records are”.
Impressed with Manu Bhaker’s performance at such a big platform, many prominent personalities including Virender Sehwag, Suniel Shetty, Gagan Narang and Jaaved Jaaferi among others took to their respective Twitter handles to congratulate the 16-year-old sensation.
Here are some of the best tweets:
The magnificent victory of young Manu Bhaker from Haryana, who has scripted history by becoming the youngest Indian to clinch GOLD at the ISSF World Cup, ascertains the strength, grit & perseverance our Girls possess.
Way to go!!! #BetiBachaoBetiPadhao https://t.co/Xrb8Ga8e1c pic.twitter.com/AMq8izaDwi— Ministry of WCD (@MinistryWCD) 6 March 2018
Congratulations Manu Bhaker on winning gold and helping India bag top prize in Air Pistol Mixed Doubles final. Proud of you ! pic.twitter.com/IRqe8C7DWq
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) 6 March 2018
Inspiration is possibly the best pre-women’s day message as well as gift we can derive from Manu Bhaker’s story! Another sports marvel from #Haryana! More Power to our girls, More glory to our country! Proudly Indian! pic.twitter.com/QgIdxkwkMH
— Suniel Shetty (@SunielVShetty) 6 March 2018
Move aside useless socialites talking about women power, here’s an inspiration to all of us. True Girl Power. Salute #ManuBhaker
And she is from Jhajjar in Haryana. Once again proving tht champions come frm small towns in India. There r 1000’s of such gems awaiting to be polished— Jaaved Jaaferi (@jaavedjaaferi) 6 March 2018
Congratulations #ManuBhaker on winning gold medal in ISSF Shooting World Cup! The nation is proud of your achievement!
— Suresh Prabhu (@sureshpprabhu) 6 March 2018
India is shining brightly in the #ISSFShootingWorldCup this year with 5 medals so far!!
My congratulations to #ManuBhaker on winnig #gold in her #WorldCup debut at such a young age. You have made India proud. Hope to see you win at #YouthOlympicGames as well. Best wishes!#ISSFWC pic.twitter.com/7LHnaqAF1s— Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) 5 March 2018
Winning two gold medals in a global event of this magnitude would easily qualify as a great achievement.
