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A long-time coach of Arjun Babuta and herself a former athlete, Deepali Deshpande was in shock when her student ended the finals of the men's 10m air rifle on the fourth spot. Babuta had made a strong start but faltered as the game progressed toward the most toughest moments. Perhaps it was the nerves which got the better of the 25-year-old shooter.
Deepali was not in Paris with Babuta but her support was with him throughout. Ever since Babuta was a mere 16-year-old, she nurtured him with immense care. From winning at major competitions to his back injury, which made him collapse at times, Deepali has seen it all.
It took her today, around an hour to recover from the shock of Arjun Babuta's outcome. She said in an interaction with PTI:
"Today was a tough day for me as well and I threw my phone on seeing him slip from second to fourth in the finals. I know how hard I have worked with him during his junior days and helped him through the injury phase. He is one of those who can shoot 10.8s consistently in the finals, and I am sure his era will start in 2025."
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Arjun Babuta had previously revealed to Sportskeeda in an exclusive interview on how his lower body used to collapse while shooting. Deshpande shed light on that issue as well. She mentioned:
"He passed through a very bad phase when he suffered a back injury that put paid to his hopes of making it to the Tokyo Olympics three years back. He fell twice at the range while shooting as his legs used to go numb. The Covid pandemic gave him time to rest and recover, but every now and then he would call and request if I (Babuta) could start training, and every time I had to tell him, he needed to get fit first."
Arjun Babuta's performance today at the Paris Olympics 2024
After an exceptional performance in the qualification stages of Paris Olympics, Arjun Babuta made it to the finals of the men's 10m air rifle event. He started off in style and there were moments when it seemed he would finish off with a silver, if not a gold. A bronze was sure to come.
However, he could not continue the momentum as his last shot saw him earn 9.5 points which was 1.4 points short of a podium finish. He accumulated a total of 208.4 points.
