Bhaker broke the junior world records in the qualification rounds to sail into the women's 10m air pistol final at her International Sport Shooting Federation (ISSF) World Cup debut at Guadalajara, Mexico.
She then went on to win the gold medal while competing against Olympic gold-medallist Anna Korakaki, three-time World Cup medallist Celine Goberville, and local favourite Alejandra Zavala in the final, shooting a total of 237.5 to win the gold medal on debut!
At just 16 years old, it made her the youngest Indian to win a gold medal at an ISSF World Cup.
She then paired up with Om Prakash Mitherval to win her second gold in the 10m air pistol mixed team event.
Still eligible to participate in the ISSF Junior World Cup, Bhaker then won gold medals in the individual and mixed team event in the 10m air pistol.
A month later, at the 2018 Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast, Australia, she shot a new games record to clinch the women’s 10m Air Pistol gold.
She then won another gold in the 10m Air Pistol at her second ISSF Junior World Cup to add to a bronze at the mixed team event while narrowly missing out on a medal in the 25m pistol event.
Though she did not get a medal at the 2018 Asian Games, Manu Bhaker ended the year by creating history at the 2018 Youth Olympics Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
She won the 10m air pistol gold, becoming the first Indian shooter and first female athlete from the country to win gold at the Youth Olympics.
The teenager then teamed up with Saurabh Chaudhary at the 2019 ISSF World Cup in New Delhi in what has worked out to be a great partnership.
They won the mixed team gold medals at all three ISSF World Cups in 2019 and at the World Cup final in China, Manu Bhaker won both the individual and mixed team event gold.
Manu Bhaker also sealed an Olympics quota place with a fourth-place finish at the 2019 Munich ISSF World Cup.
She added a gold and silver medal in the 10m air pistol at the 2021 New Delhi ISSF World Cup and a bronze in the 25m Air Pistol, making her one of the medal favourites for India at the Tokyo Olympics - where, as mentioned, things did not go as planned.
Shortly after Tokyo, Bhaker became the junior world champion in the women's 10m air pistol at Lima and has won medals in the junior circuit fairly regularly since.
She has also won the women's 25m pistol silver at the 2022 Cairo World Championships and a gold in the same event at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou but her only individual senior triumph - a bronze in women's 25m pistol - came at the Bhopal leg of the 2023 ISSF World Cup series.
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