"I Regret Putting Her In Shooting"- Manu Bhaker's Heartbroken Father

India's ace shooter Manu Bhaker, who created history in the Paris Olympics 2024 by bagging two bronze medals for India is heartbroken after not getting selected for the Khel Ratna award. Manu Bhaker claimed that she had registered her name for the online portal award, but was disappointed after not getting her name in the 30-name shortlist.

Manu, the first sportsperson from the country to win two medals in the same Olympic Games, is understandably disappointed with her name not being there in a bid to get the highest sports honor. Manu's father in fact stated that he regrets his decision of putting Manu in the field of shooting, she instead should've been a Cricketer.

In an interview with Times Of India Manu's father has taken a jibe at the Sports Ministry and the committee that finalized the list for the Khel Ratna award. The Ministry in their defense has stated that the two-time winner hasn't registered her name, the player though has contradicted the statement.

Manu's Father To TOI

"I regret putting her in shooting, I should have asked her to pursue Cricket, then all the praise and awards would have come her way. She won two bronze medals in the Olympics in a single edition, none has ever done that previously and still she is not there in the list, I spoke to Manu, she's clearly disappointed, she said to me I shouldn't have won medals for India, or I shouldn't have picked up shooting as a career option, she won two crucial medals for the country, now what else do you expect my child should do for the country? the government and the ministry needs to recognize her efforts & sacrifices that she has put in"

It has been reported that Manu registered her name on the web portal. The sports ministry and the federation are said to be in talks with the player and sort out a concrete solution for the same.

According To Sources

"Manu has said that she registered her name on the portal, if this is the case then the federation must have included her name. Now, whatever the situation is the federation has approached the ministry to include her name in the list as well" The source stated

It is reported that Manu has also applied for the country's third-highest & fourth-highest civilian awards Padma Bhushan & Padma Shri awards respectively. The applications as per the paper were submitted on September 15th.