Manu Bhaker's shooting hand underwent rigorous training in the last few months and that's why she will now be taking a three-month break. But this won't mean a vacation as the double Olympic medalist will aim to continue with her routine, like doing yoga and waking up early at 6:00 a.m. In this break, she will aim to pick up her favorite hobbies like horse riding, skating, Bharatnatyam, and playing violin.
The youngster, who recently clinched two Olympic bronze medals in the 10m air pistol and the 10m air pistol mixed team event with Sarobjit Singh attended an interaction with PTI. Along with her coach Jaspal Rana, Bhaker talked about various things. Showing off her medals, the youngster revealed her plans after Paris and how the disappointing campaign of Tokyo is a thing of the past. She also talked about doing all those things, which she stopped due to the Paris Olympics 2024.
Manu Bhaker's historic Paris campaign
"Now that I have some time off, I can probably get back into martial arts. I hadn’t had the time to invest in it, but now I can pursue my many hobbies—horse riding, which I love, skating, which I still enjoy on the roads, and fitness, which I enjoy. I’m also learning Bharatnatyam, but training in France left me with little time to keep up with my classes," she explained, noting that her Bharatnatyam instructor is from Tamil Nadu. "And then there’s the violin," Manu was quoted as saying to PTI.
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Bhaker talked about his 'vacation' plans but her coach Jaspal Rana smiled and also disapproved of the idea of her doing horse riding.
"...and she has to come back in one piece", Rana said while also making Manu laugh. "Skating and horse riding are risky, and she’ll be responsible for whatever happens. Who rides a horse expecting to fall?" he added.
But Manu quickly responded and said, "I’ve been learning horse riding for some time now. "I’ve been waiting for this—after the Olympics, I wanted to try horse riding and so many other things like skydiving and scuba diving. I’ve waited so long".
But at the same time, Rana revealed the real reason for Manu taking a break and said that her shooting hand needs to fully recover. "This (pointing to her injured hand) is why we're giving her three months of rest. This injury has been around for eight months and hasn't healed yet. So rest is mandatory. We decided on this break long before the World Cup Final was awarded to New Delhi", he revealed.
He also emphasized that this break would not just be about enjoying but it was important.