Asian Games 2026: Manu Bhaker qualifies for 10m air pistol final in third place

Double Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker qualified for the women’s 10m air pistol final at the Asian Games 2026 on Wednesday after finishing third in the qualification round, while India narrowly missed a team medal, ending fourth.

The 24-year-old Bhaker shot a total of 579-20x across six series to secure her place in the final, scheduled for 9 am IST, according to ESPN.

Bhaker opened with a score of 95 in her first series but recovered strongly, posting 96, 96 and 98 in her final three series to finish among the top eight and advance to the medal round.


However, India’s women’s 10m air pistol team missed out on the podium by two inner-10 shots. Esha Singh finished 16th with 572 points, while Suruchi Singh ended 26th with 568 points.

Esha closed her qualification campaign strongly with scores of 97, 97 and 96 and will now turn her attention to the 25m sports pistol event. Suruchi, meanwhile, scored 93 in her final series.

Bhaker, a double Olympic medallist, is now aiming to add an Asian Games medal to her resume. The Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medallist had missed out on an individual medal at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games.

Elsewhere on Day 4, India secured several qualification spots across 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 also advanced to the men’s doubles sculls final after finishing second in their heat and fourth overall.

In canoe sprint, Harshwardhan Shaktawat, Varinder Singh, L Naocha Singh Oinam and Arun Singh qualified for the men’s kayak four 500m final after finishing third in their heat.

India’s swimming campaign saw Benedicton Beniston finish 13th overall in the men’s 100m butterfly, missing the final, while Vedaant Madhavan and Aneesh Sunil competed in the men’s 200m freestyle heats.

India’s men’s badminton team, which has already secured a medal, will face China in the semi-finals, while wushu athlete Roshibina Devi will compete for a place in the final of her event.

(With inputs from ANI)