India's hopes of an early shooting medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 were dashed as both Apurvi Chandela nor Elavenil Valarivan didn't make the women's 10m air rifle final.
Follow Us
India’s hopes of an early shooting medal at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 were dashed on Saturday (July 24). The qualification round of the women’s 10m air rifle event kicked off the day of sporting action. However, neither Apurvi Chandela nor Elavenil Valarivan were able to book a spot in the final. Valarivan finished 16th in the qualifiers whereas Chandela finished a lowly 36th. Only the top 8 of the 50 competitors would qualify for the final, with neither of the Indians coming close. (Tokyo 2020 full coverage)
Valarivan looked likely to make a late surge towards the top 8 at one point but it wasn’t to be. In the end, she missed out on the 8th by 2 points.
Chandela, on the other hand, never got going. She is never the fastest out of the blocks in qualifying, meaning she had completed less rounds early on.
However, even when her rounds began to catch up her scores looked unlikely to threaten the top 8. In the end, she finished more than 7 points adrift.
The men’s 10m air pistol qualification is set to take place later today at 9:30 AM IST.
The Tokyo Olympics, which was delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is now up and running. The Games have not been without their share of controversies, however.
The event is happening despite plenty of protests from the Japanese people against it. And the angst is not without reason. Tokyo is currently in a state of emergency due to a rise in COVID cases.
The Games will by and large be played out in the absence of fans, always a major psychological blow to athletes. There’s also been a number of cases reported in the Olympic village itself.
Nevertheless, the Games remain an event that many around the world will be keen to watch. From July 23 to August 8, many will be hooked onto their televisions to follow the events.
Shooting has by and large always been a discipline India have had medal hopes from. India’s sole individual gold medal win came from the sport courtesy of Abhinav Bindra.
The likes of Colonel Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Gagan Narang have also shone brightly at both Olympic and world stages.
However, this was far from the ideal start for the shooting contingent. But there are still a number of medal contenders remaining as things stand.
Manu Bhaker, Saurabh Chaudhary, Rahi Sarnobat, Anjum Moudgil, Divyansh Singh Panwar and Abhishek Verma can very well finish atop the podium before the end of the Games.
It is from Chaudhary that hopes are highest. The youngster, who impressed in the Youth Olympics, has grown from strength to strength.
In the ISSF Shooting World Cup, Chaudhary has already won eight gold medals while in the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, he won a historic gold.
