Manu Bhaker bans her parents from foreign trips

The 16-year-old has brought home World Cup and Commonwealth Games gold medals this year in a sudden rise to fame, and is one of the favourites at the Asian Games in Indonesia. But she is finding that success comes at a price, with a tough training schedule and a restrictive lifestyle that means less time with friends and a one-hour daily time limit for using her mobile phone.

Bhaker said she had resorted to banning her parents from her overseas trips as she tries to carve out a slice of freedom.

“They make limits for me, like, ‘Eat that, eat this, don’t go there, do this, don’t do this, don’t use your phone, don’t do this now, go to bed,’” she tells AFP before a training session in Palembang, which is co-hosting the Asian Games along with Jakarta.

“It’s a bit too much.”

Bhaker’s day kicks off at 5am with yoga and meditation, and ends with a jog and bootcamp-style workout.

Bhaker’s day kicks off at 5am with yoga and meditation, and ends with a jog and bootcamp-style workout.

But perhaps most punishing of all, she and the other ‘juniors’ on the Indian team are only allowed one hour with their phones each day.

In spite of her age, Bhaker is competing at senior level for the 25m sports pistol and both the individual and mixed team 10m air pistol.

She is proud of her achievement but, yes, the unfairness does grates when she sees older members of her team.

“They’re seniors. They’re free. They can do anything they want,” she says wistfully of her team-mates. “They can use their phones any time.” Bhaker swept to fame at the beginning of this year by becoming the youngest Indian to win a gold medal at the World Cup, a feat she achieved the individual 10m air pistol and the mixed team event.