Vijay Kumar qualifies for the Finals!

Continuing from yesterday’s qualification stage 1, Vijay Kumar took part in the stage 2 of the qualification round for the Men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event today. He finished stage 1 at respectable score of 293, which put him in 5th place going into stage 2. To make it to the finals, he would have to ensure that he came up with a good score. While the scores in the qualifying stage would not be taken forward to the finals, it was still important to come up with a good round so that he could confirm his place in the final as well as build his confidence to try and finish among the medals.

Vijay was part of the first set of shooters and finished with a respectable score of 292. Adding yesterday’s 293 points, it brought his total qualification stage score to 585. While that was a creditable performance, it may have still seen him fall short of the final 6 as Alexei Klimov finished with a phenomenal score of 592 and was on top of the standings. While the top 3 shooters from yesterday maintained their positins, Vijay had to compete with Jian Zhang and Christian Reitz for the final 2 places.

Zhang fared poorly in stage 2 and could only muster a total of 584 and finished behind Vijay. Neither could Reitz pose any challenge and could only finish behind Vijay. The surprise was that Martin Podhrasky, who finished 4th after stage 1 yesterday, dropped down to joint 6th and they had a shoot off to determine the last shooter for the finals.

One advantage of this event is that the qualification scores are not carried forward to the final round and all the shooters start with a fresh score card. If Vijay can keep his composure, he will have a good chance of winning a medal for the country.