Morini Published ‘Anti-Manu’ Articles a Day Before Qualification - Ronak Pandit

Bhaker's coach Ronak Pandit has smashed all the claims made by her gun manufacturer in a video posted on Facebook.

Manu Bhaker was seen worried after her pistol malfunction.

Image: PTI 

Manu Bhaker's gun failure at the Tokyo Olympics' 10m air pistol qualification event has sparked a controversy, with gun maker Morini and Indian shooting instructor Ronak Pandit joining the fray.

What happened at the event?

The Indian shooting contingent has been a talking point since the start of their campaign, especially Manu Bhaker. The 19-year-old caught the limelight during the qualification when her gun malfunctioned after the 16^th shot.

At that moment, she still had to take another 44 shots in 55 minutes, but the repair work forced a delay of 17 minutes, which made her shoot 44 shots in 38 minutes. Bhaker was in fourth place when the issue occurred; the top eight finishers advanced to the finals.

What led to the stand-off between Morini and Ronak?

The incident gave birth to a lot of speculation among former shooters and experts that Manu could have explored other options, like using her spare gun or going for other repair options. In light of this discussion, Morini (Manu’s gun manufacturer) released a statement and alleged that their outlet was close to the range but no one from the Indian team sought professional help.

Ronak Pandit’s response

Following Repich's claims, Pandit, the national coach of the Indian shooting squad in Tokyo, published a video outlining what happened during Bhaker's 10m air pistol qualifying round. After shooting 98 in the first series, her gun developed a snag in the second. A circuit fault cost the shooter around 18 minutes of her valuable time, causing her to finish outside the top 8 and miss the finals.

However, Morini asserted that the gun might have been repaired swiftly if the Indian team had sought competent assistance. Coach Pandit responded to the allegations by posting a video on Facebook explaining how far the Morini outlet was from the shooting range and why it would not have been a good idea for Bhaker to have her gun repaired there.

According to Pandit, Morini had published 'anti-Manu' articles just days before her match at the Tokyo Olympics, and the 19-year-old could not have trusted the manufacturer. He also explained why Bhaker, who had a backup gun, didn't use it after her first gun failed. The spare gun had a different grip that Manu didn't like.