Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker finished fifth in the women’s 10m air pistol individual final at the Asian Games 2026 on Wednesday, scoring 181.1 points before being eliminated after the 18th shot.
Bhaker, who qualified third with 579-20x, registered 9.6 with her 18th shot to bow out of the medal race. South Korea’s Choo Gaeun won gold with 246.3 points, setting an Asian record, while China’s Shen Yiyao took silver with 241.3. Jiang Ranxin of China secured bronze with 221.6 points.
The 24-year-old Bhaker had recovered from a slow start in qualification, opening with 95 before finishing strongly with scores of 96, 96 and 98 in her final three series, according to ESPN.
Bhaker’s fifth-place finish came after India’s women’s 10m air pistol team narrowly missed the podium, finishing fourth by two inner-10 shots. Esha Singh finished 16th in qualification with 572 points, while Suruchi Singh placed 26th with 568.
Bhaker, a Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medallist, had missed out on an individual medal at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games.
Elsewhere on Day 4, India secured qualification spots across several disciplines.
In rowing, Balraj Panwar finished third in his men’s single sculls heat and fourth overall to qualify for the final. Satnam Singh and Salman Khan finished second in their men’s doubles sculls heat and fourth overall, also advancing to the final.
Jaswinder Singh and Nitin Kumar finished fourth in the men’s pair heats and advanced to Final B. India’s women’s four rowing team of Gurbani Kaur, Aleena Anto, Tendenthoi Haobijam and Poonam also competed in the heats.
In canoe sprint, Harshwardhan Shaktawat, Varinder Singh, L Naocha Singh Oinam and Arun Singh finished third in the men’s kayak four 500m heat to qualify for the final. Megha Pradeep placed fifth in the women’s canoe single 200m heats and advanced to the semifinals.
In swimming, Benedicton Beniston finished fourth in his men’s 100m butterfly heat and 13th overall, missing out on the final, while Sajan Prakash did not start. Vedaant Madhavan finished sixth and Aneesh Sunil fourth in their respective men’s 200m freestyle heats, with qualification still to be determined.
In fencing, Karan Singh and Gisho Nidhi Kumaresan advanced to the Round of 32 in the men’s individual sabre event. Kumaresan finished third in his pool of six, while Karan placed fifth in his pool of five.
Kumaresan will face Laos’ Quentin Goeffroy, while Karan will take on China’s Shaotong Luo in their Round of 32 bouts later on Wednesday.
In sepaktakraw, India defeated the Philippines 2-1 in the men’s team regu Group B but missed out on qualification.
India’s men’s badminton team, which has already secured a medal, will face China in the semifinals as it looks to progress to the final. Wushu athlete Roshibina Devi will also aim to reach the final of her event on Wednesday.
(With inputs from ANI)
