English
Tokyo: India suffered another huge blow at Tokyo Olympics as the star shooting pair of Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary finished seventh in Qualification Stage 2 at the Asaka Shooting- 10m Air Pistol Mixed Event and failed to qualify for the final. The duo was touted as India’s best bet in shooting at Tokyo 2020.
In the second phase of the qualification round, the duo failed miserably and shot a total of 380 as India’s challenge in the 10m Pistol Mixed Event ended.
The duo finished seventh in Qualification 2 after topping the first phase with 582. They lost the plot completely when the top eight teams battled it out in the second phase.
Things took a turn for the worst in the second phase as the Indians got off to a horrid start with Bhaker shooting a poor 92 in her first series to go with a 94 in the second.
By his standards, Chaudhary was not great either in the first series as he shot 96, but he came back strongly to record 98 in his second series.
But it was always going to be an improbable task for the Indians after four 8s by Bhaker across the two series.
Chaudhary and Bhaker were languishing at the bottom of the table after the first series.
Earlier, the other Indian team in the event, Abhishek Verma and Yashaswini Singh Deswal also had a miserable day as the duo failed to clear Qualification 1 and finished in 17th place, having totalled 564 across six series (three each for one member).
While the top eight teams make the Qualification 2, the top four pairs in the second phase qualify for the medal rounds.
The top two in the qualification stage 2 fight for the gold medal, while the contest between the third and fourth-placed is for the bronze.
Earlier, Chaudhary recorded an excellent 296, including a perfect 100, across the three series of 10 shots each while Bhaker managed 286, in the first phase.
(With PTI Inputs)
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