Horse riding, bharatnatyam and skating on Manu Bhaker’s mind during break from shooting

Olympic medallist Manu Bhaker takes a break to recover from hand injury, focusing on hobbies like horse riding and violin.

Her shooting hand bruised by repeated pistol recoils during unrelenting training, Manu Bhaker will take a well deserved three month break. But it will be no vacation.

The double Olympic medallist will continue her other routines including yoga and waking up at 6 am — which she hates. And oh yes. She also plans to catch up on her hobbies — horse riding, skating, Bharatnatyam and violin practice to name a few.

The 22-year-old, who won bronze medals in the 10m air pistol and 10m air pistol mixed team (partnering Sarabjot Singh), was at PTI headquarters on Friday (August 16, 2024) along with her coach and shooting great Jaspal Rana for a freewheeling interaction with its editors.

Proudly flaunting her medals, the vivacious youngster from Haryana's Jhajjar spoke about her Paris preparations, how the Tokyo setback was nothing more than a distant memory now, and also her plans to indulge in everything that she put on hold for her Olympic dreams.

"Now, I have some time off and I can probably do that (martial arts) again," said Bhaker, a karate kid in her teens before a change of heart led her to shooting.

"I was not able to get that kind of time to invest myself into that (martial arts). Finally, I can take time off for my hobbies, and I have many, many hobbies. Horse riding... personally, I love horse riding, skating, I can still manage on the roads, then fitness, I really enjoy working out.

"Then, I have dance (as a hobby) also , I am learning Bharatnatyam. I love the dance forms. I was training in France, I wasn't able to get time, not able to cope up with the (Bharatnatyam) classes," said Bhaker, whose trainer is from Tamil Nadu.