World Championship silver medallist Jitu Rai faltered at the finish and missed making the free pistol final by one point in the shooting World Cup in Gabala on Friday.
The 29-year-old Jitu who has two gold medals in World Cup from free pistol, apart from the Asian Games gold, shot 558 following a series of 96, 96, 92, 93, 93 and 88, for the 12th place.
In the last series, Jitu had only two 10s and ended with three 8s that pulled him out of the race.
It was in contrast to the score of 562 that he had shot a day earlier, in the elimination stage. It was almost a similar story for Amanpreet Singh who had won the silver behind Jitu in the first World Cup in Delhi this season. Amanpreet placed 15th with a total of 556.
Prakash Nanjappa, who had shot 560 in the elimination series, could muster only 549 and placed 26th.
Oleh Omelchuk of Ukraine won the gold 1.9 point ahead of Yusuf Dikec of Turkey after topping the qualifiers with a score of 568.
There was no such drama in women’s sports pistol, as World Cup gold medallist Rahi Sarnobat and fellow Olympian Annu Raj Singh shot identical scores of 577 to be placed 20th and 21st respectively.
In the MQS section, Heena Sidhu shot 580, following 291 in the precision stage and 289 in the rapid fire section.
Lin Yuemei of China continued to assert her class by winning the gold ahead of Kim Minjung of Korea, after having topped qualification with 589. It was the second gold medal for the reigning junior World
Champion in air pistol.
The results:
Men: 50m free pistol: 1. Oleh Omelchuk (Ukr) 230.4 (568); 2. Yusuf Dikec (Tur) 228.5 (563); 3. Damir Mikec (Srb) 205.5 (559); 12. Jitu Rai 558; 15. Amanpreet Singh 556; 26. Prakash Nanjappa 549.
Women: 25m sports pistol: 1. Lin Yuemei (Chn) 36 (589); 2. Kim Minjung (Kor) 34 (582); 3. Zhang Jinging (Chn) 27 (587); 20. Rahi Sarnobat 577; 21. Annu Raj Singh 577; 40. Surabhii Pathak 568. MQS: Heena Sidhu 580.
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