Manu Bhaker. | (Image Credits: X)
With double-Olympic medal-winner Manu Bhaker reportedly excluded from the nominees list for the Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award, the youngster’s father revealed that she is quite disheartened by the developments. Manu’s father has revealed that the athlete is dejected to the extent that she feels it wasn’t worth becoming a sportsperson.
Bhaker scripted history for India, becoming the first athlete after independence from the country to win two medals in a single edition of the Olympics, doing so in Paris this year. The youngster first won bronze in the women’s 10m Air Pistol event and followed it up with another in the mixed team category of the same sport alongside Sarabjot Singh.
Speaking to The Times of India, here’s what the 22-year-old’s father stated:
“I spoke to Manu, and she was disheartened by all this. She told me ‘I shouldn’t have gone to the Olympics and won medals for the country. In fact, I shouldn’t have become a sportsperson’”.
“What else do you expect my child to do for the country?” – Manu Bhaker’s father
Manu’s father elaborated by stating that he should have made her a cricketer, given cricketers are the ones most recognised in India.
“I regret putting her in the sport of shooting. I should have instead made her a cricketer. Then, all the awards and accolades would have come her way. She won two Olympic medals in a single edition, no one has ever done that. What else do you expect my child to do for the country? The govt must recognise her efforts.”
Nevertheless, according to PTI, the Sports Ministry is yet to unveil the final list of the nominations and the youngster could yet find her name in the final list. Harmanpreet Singh, who captained Indian men’s hockey team to bronze in the Olympics, is reportedly amongst the nominee and so is para-athlete Praveen Kumar, who won gold in the high jump T64 class.
