Olympics 2021: Indian shooters fail to deliver the goods yet again, miss final of the men's 10m air rifle event

Rifle shooters Deepak Kumar and Divyansh Singh Panwar's Olympics 2021 sojourn ended earlier than expected as the duo failed to advance into the final of the men’s 10-meter air rifle event at the Asaka Shooting Range on Sunday.

Deepak Kumar shot a series of 102.9, 103.8, 103.7, 105.2, 103.8, 105.3 for a total of 624.7 points to finish at the 26th spot. Divyansh was also unimpressive and finished further down the ladder in the 36th position. He shot a series of 102.7, 103.7, 103.6, 104.6, 104.6, 103.6 for a total of 622.8 points.

It is disappointing that the duo failed to repeat their performances from the recent past at the 2021 Olympics. The Indian shooting team had a two-month training stint in Croatia to prepare for the Tokyo Olympics.

How did Manu Bhaker and Yashaswini Singh perform?

In the morning session, pistol shooters Manu Bhaker and Yashaswini Singh Deswal failed to progress to the final. In the second session of the day, rifle shooters Deepak and Divyansh were unimpressive in their respective events.

Is the Tokyo journey over for Deepak Kumar and Divyansh Singh Panwar?

Both shooters (Deepak Kumar and Divyansh Singh Panwar) will however get another chance to win a medal in Tokyo. They are scheduled to compete in mixed team events later. Divyansh is set to partner Elavenil Valarivan while Deepak Kumar will be teaming up with Anjum Moudgil. They will be keen to amend their performances from previous singles events by bagging a podium finish for India in Tokyo.

How did the other shooters perform at the men's 10m air rifle in Olympics 2021?

China's 16-year-old Sheng Lihao held his nerves and was the last and eighth shooter to make the cut for the medal round. Sheng shot 629.2 points.

Competition at the Olympics can run down to the wire and be decided on mere decimal points. Iran's Sedaghat Mahyar shot 629.1 to miss the final by a margin of a decimal point. Sedaghat was ninth in the field of 47 shooters.

What about other Indian shooters?

Of the six Indian shooters who competed in their respective individual qualification events, only teenage pistol shooter Saurabh Chaudhary entered the final of the men’s 10m air pistol event on Saturday. Saurabh finished seventh in the final of the 10m air pistol event. Others failed to deliver the goods at the right time.

The below par performance points to a lack of proper training to withstand high levels of pressure in a competition like the Olympics.