Gold medallist Manu Bhaker is fun-loving, talkative and loves her clothes

Bhaker atop the victory podium

Teenager Manu Bhaker, 16, may be over the moon having won the gold medal (237.5) in the women's 10m air pistol event at the ISSF World Cup in Guadalajara, Mexico on Sunday, but her coach Jaspal Rana, is a bit worried back home in Delhi.

"It's a pleasant surprise because I never expected a medal from Manu in Mexico. This is her first ISSF World Cup and I was always more concerned about her scores. But she has shot brilliantly and deserves the glory. The worrying part though is that she's got this medal so early and it will now be a challenge for her to maintain this momentum throughout her career," Rana, a multiple time Asian Games gold medallist marksman, told mid-day over the phone from New Delhi yesterday.

Manu Bhaker during the 10m air pistol event at the ISSF World Cup in Mexico on Sunday

And that's the reason junior national coach Rana sent a rather straightforward reply via text message to the Haryana teen when she informed him about her achievement yesterday.

"I wrote to her, 'you have got what you wanted, now it's over. You have another event coming up in two days, so focus on that'," said Rana, knowing fully well though that the chirpy Bhaker might not heed his warning. "Manu is a very bubbly girl. She laughs a lot, talks a lot and asks a lot of questions, and that is not just restricted to shooting. And she loves to dress well. Interestingly, for some this might be a distraction, but it works for Manu, which she proved once again in Mexico by keeping her calm to excel under extreme pressure in yet another closely contested final. And mind you, she beat a local 32-year-old, two-time World Cup gold medallist in Alejandra Zavala [237.1] with a brilliant final shot of 10.8," explained Rana, who prefers to call himself a mentor rather than coach.

Jaspal Rana

Manu's time starts now, felt Rana. He explained: "I will need to sit with Manu and have a lot of discussions when she returns. She needs to understand that there is a long way for her to go and she must be prepared to take failure in her stride too. The very same people who are praising her, will not hesitate to question her whenever she fails. But I know that behind her broad smile is an even broader pair of shoulders which can carry the nation's burden in shooting. Abhinav Bindra's [2008 Olympic] gold has given every promising Indian shooter hope that no peak is unconquerable."

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