Tokyo, July 28: Its morale hit after a series of poor results and revelation of factionalism among coaches, India’s shooting contingent would be looking towards the seasoned Rahi Sarnobat for a reboot while hoping that Manu Bhaker rediscovers her form in the women’s 25m pistol event of the Olympics here on Thursday.
The Indian shooters, tipped to be the country’s best medal bet before the Olympics, endured yet another forgettable outing on Tuesday when they crashed out in the qualifying stages of the mixed team events in both pistol and rifle. The duo of Saurabh Chaudhary and Bhaker caved in under pressure and failed to qualify for the final of the 10m air pistol mixed team event.
They finished seventh in Qualification 2 after topping the first phase with 582 at the Asaka Range. Both the 19-year-olds then lost the plot completely when the top eight teams battled it out in the second phase.
The other Indian team in the event, Abhishek Verma and Yashaswini Singh Deswal, failed to clear Qualification 1 and finished in 17th place. If that was not enough, the rifle duo of Elavenil Valarivan and Divyansh Singh Panwar finished 12th, while Anjum Moudgil and Deepak Kumar ended 18th out of 29 pairs.
Bhaker will get one last chance to leave her mark at the Games on Thursday after she endured a major weapon malfunction leading to a heartbreaking exit from the women’s 10 air pistol event.
Thursday could well turn out to be a new beginning for Bhaker and Indian shooting, provided she and Sarnobat can handle the pressure.
Sarnobat and Bhaker will have to face two days of qualification on Thursday and Friday, before the top eight are separated after the second rapid fire round. (PTI)
