Perfection under pressure proved elusive for the Indian shooters as Manu Bhaker shot a 582 and missed the women’s 25-metre sports pistol final by two points at the Tokyo Olympics on Friday.
Rahi Sarnobat, one of the favourites, could not recover from a below-par first half when she shot 287 and finished with 573. She took the 32nd spot in a field of 44.
The 30-year-old Rahi, Asian Games gold medallist, had shot 581 on way to the silver in the Delhi World Cup and 591 while winning gold in the Osijek World Cup this season.
After the disappointments in air pistol and mixed events, when she struggled with a pistol malfunction too, the 19-year-old Manu gave herself a chance to book a berth in the final with 292 in the precision round, but slipped to 290 in rapid fire. A total of 582 was way below par for someone who has a career-best 593, shot in the Asian Games.
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Vitalina Batsarashkina of the Russian Olympic Committee beat Kim Minjung of Korea 4-1 in the shoot-off after the two tied on 38 in the final, her second gold after the air pistol triumph. She had also won the mixed air pistol silver with Artem Chernousov. The 24-year-old Russian had won the air pistol silver in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Defending champion Anna Korakaki of Greece was sixth, while qualification topper Antoaneta Kostadinova (590) of Bulgaria was pushed to the fourth spot by Xiao Jiaruixuan of China.
Anjum Moudgil and Tejaswini Sawant will compete in the women’s 50-metre rifle 3-position event on Saturday.
The results:
Women’s 25m sports pistol: 1. Vitalina Batsarashkina (ROC) 38(4) 586; 2. Kim Minjung (Kor) 38(1) 584; 3. Xiao Jiaruixuan (Chn) 29 (587); 15. Manu Bhaker 582; 32. Rahi Sarnobat 573.
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