Rai aggregated 554.Entering the sporting extravaganza as India’s biggest medal hope, the world number three army man from Mhow had two poor series in the third and last in windy conditions.As a rule, the top eight qualify for the final.”I tried my best and was not under pressure but I don’t know what happened in the last series”.
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Jitu Rai’s walked off the shooting range as if he was coming out of a hospital after a long treatment. When a shot falls below expectation your correspondent’s heart quails in the stands, one can only imagine the stress that the man on the spot undergoes.
“He has the technique and the temperament that’s needed at this stage. It’s about dealing them with emotion at the final tomorrow”, he said.
But a nightmarish start to the sixth series saw him scoring 26 in three shots.
Reacting to the elimination, Singh said he had never seen Jitu firing such a low score, at least in the last three years.
Jitu started the first series at the second spot with a ideal 10 and then went on to fire 37 from four rounds to find himself at the 11th spot. “In a competition as big as the Olympics, you can not blame the shooter, you can not blame the coach. As a president I take the responsibility”, Raninder said with a little shrug.
On the hockey field, the Indians, who were playing in the Olympics after a gap of 36 years, were simply outplayed by the higher-ranked Australians who exposed the defensive frailties of their opponents. Abhinav Bindra – who bid farewell to the sport – came closest to winning a medal in the 10m Air Rifle final only to finish fourth.
The country’s earnest wait for their first medal here, thus, continued on day 5 following the exit of Nepal-born Rai, victor of the gold medal in the same 50m pistol event in both the Commonwealth and Asian Games two years ago. With Bindra not making it to the podium, all eyes had turned to Jitu. “Why else would you shoot decently in the first five series and score you career’s worst in the final one”, the official reasoned.
Raninder still has hope. “We still have Gagan Narang, Chain Singh (50m prone, 50m 3P) and Mairaj Ahmad Khan in skeet”. India’s other shooter Prakash Nanjappa ended up at the 25th position.
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Even I was so sure about my chances here.
