India at Olympics 2021: 3 takeaways from the men's 50m rifle 3 positions event as Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Sanjeev Rajput fail to qualify for the final

At the 2021 Olympics 2021, both Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Sanjeev Rajput faltered in the qualification stage of the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions event. This marks the end of the campaign for the Indian Shooting team at the Olympics 2021.

With 1167-63x/1200 points, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar, the World No.2, was placed in the 21st position in the qualification table. His compatriot Sanjeev Rajput, the World No.6, accumulated 1157-55x/1200 to be ranked 32nd overall.

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Both Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Sanjeev Rajput couldn’t feature in the top-8 bracket to feature in the final. Here are three takeaways from the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions event at Olympics 2021:

#1 Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar couldn’t capitalise on the brilliant start:

Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar began the match with a brilliant finish in the kneeling position. At the end of his kneeling position, he was ranked 2nd in the qualification leaderboard. His trifurcation of scores are as follows:

Kneeling - 99, 100, 98, 100 Total - 397/400

Prone - 98, 99, 97, 97 Total - 391/400

Standing - 95, 96, 93, 95 Total - 379/400

He shot two perfect series of 100/100 points in the kneeling position. However, he couldn’t replicate similar perfection in the prone position. A string of four 9’s at the start of the standing position further hampered his chances of qualifying.

His third series in the standing position could only aggregate to a mere 93/100 points. If Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar had managed to sustain the initial momentum, he would have been a sure-shot finalist today.

Check: Who is Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar? 5 things you didn't know about the Indian shooter

#2 Sanjeev Rajput wasn’t upto the mark:

Sanjeev Rajput, the Asian Games 2018 silver medallist, was one of the most experienced in the field of 39 shooters. With the experience of competing in two Olympic editions before, he didn’t look like a real contender today. The trifurcation of his scores are as follows:

Kneeling - 96, 99, 95, 97 Total - 387/400

Prone - 97, 100, 98, 98 Total - 393/400

Standing - 94, 93, 95, 95 Total - 377/400

Apart from his prone position, neither of the remaining two positions were up to the desired expectations. This meant that Sanjeev Rapjut couldn’t qualify for an Olympic final in his third attempt as well.

#3 A forgettable Olympics for the Indian Shooting team:

In terms of results, the recently concluded campaign in Tokyo is even worse than the Rio Olympics in 2016. In the previous edition, Jitu Rai and Abhinav Bindra were the only two Indian finalists in their respective events. Saurabh Chaudhary remains the lone Indian finalist this time around.

Since the London Olympics in 2012, the shooting contingent has failed to contribute a single medal to India’s overall medal tally. Given their extraordinary talent and the hunger to succeed, this current lot of young guns will be eager to end the medal drought at the Paris Olympics in 2024.