Tokyo Olympics: Saurabh Chaudhary finishes 7th; Valarivan, Chandela miss out on making final

It was a disheartening day for Indian shooting as Abhishek Verma (575) missed the final by three points while Elavenil Valarivan and Apurvi Chandela failed to qualify for 10m air rifle final.

Saurabh Chaudhary qualified on top with 586 but finished seventh in the men’s 10m air pistol final.

Saurabh Chaudhary qualified on top with 586 but finished seventh in the men’s 10m air pistol final at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games on Saturday.

It was a disheartening day for Indian shooting as Abhishek Verma (575) missed the final by three points after dropping six points on his last four shots.

In the women’s 10m air rifle, Elavenil Valarivan shot 626.5 and missed the final by two points. World record holder Apurvi Chandela was unable to step it up in her second Olympics and shot 621.9 for 36th place in a field of 50 shooters.

What was remarkable was the convincing fashion in which Javad Foroughi of Iran shot 244.8 in the final, after a modest 580 in qualification, to clinch the men’s 10m air pistol gold with a 6.9-point margin over Damir Mikec of Serbia, who was the last entrant into the final.

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Foroughi had won the gold in both World Cups this season, yet he was able to preserve his best for the Olympic stage.

Former world and Olympic champion Pang Wei of China climbed to the bronze medal in dramatic fashion after qualifying in seventh place. It was his third Olympic medal following gold in Beijing and bronze in Rio.

A Youth Olympics champion and Asian Games gold medallist, Chaudhary had recovered after shooting 95 in the first series of qualification. He followed with 98, 98, 100, 98 and 97. In the final, a string of 9s and an 8.8 forced him to an early exit.

The 31-year-old Verma also recovered after the first series of 94 with rounds of 96, 98, 97 and 98. However, when he was poised to make the final comfortably, he shot two 9s and two 8s on his last four shots for a card of 92.

Elavenil Valarivan showed signs of jitters as she failed to qualify for the 10m air rifle final at Tokyo Olympics.

Chinese Yang Qian was able to clinch the gold in the women’s 10m air rifle with an Olympic record score of 251.8, as she beat Anastasiia Galashina by 0.7 point, as the latter lost grip with 8.9 last shot..

Valarivan had a series of 104.3, 104.0, 106.0, 104.2, 103.5 and 104.5 in qualification. She had an average 104.41 for every 10 shots, while qualification was achieved with an average of 104.75. In other words, she had an average shot of 10.44 while qualification was made with 10.48.

It is with such slender margins that fortunes are decided in shooting.

Chandela was unable to fire up and had a series of 104.5, 102.5, 104.9, 104.2, 102.2 and 103.6.

It was not a great start for the Indian shooters, but they have the chance to come good in the mixed team events, if they pick up key points from the experience and stay confident.