Rio Olympics: Shooter Jitu Rai finishes 8th in 10m Air Pistol final

NEW DELHI: India’s campaign on day one of the 2016 Rio Olympics has been a mixed bag so far, with only rower rower Dattu Baban Bokhanal and the men’s hockey team really providing reasons to cheer. While Bokhanal entered the quarter-finals of the men’s single scull event, the Indian men’s hockey team beat Ireland 3-2 in their opening group match.
In the men’s 10m air pistol qualification, Jitu Rai did very well to reach Saturday’s final after qualifying in sixth place with 580 points across six series, but exited after three shots with a score of 78.7.He finished eighth out of eight shooters, in what was his maiden Olympics appearance.
On a sour note, shooters Apurvi Chandela and Ayonika Paul, the tennis combo of Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna and table tennis players Mouma Das and Manika Batra disappointed as the quadrennial Summer Games got underway in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday.
India’s day began on a promising note, with Bokhanal, on his Olympics debut, finishing third in the 200m heats with a timing of 7:21.67 having been in second place for the first 500m of the race. It was a fine beginning for the 25-year-old who took to rowing seriously after the 2012 London Olympics.
The news was less promising from the Olympic Shooting Centre soon afterwards, however, with the pair of Chandela and Paul failing to qualify in the women’s 10m air rifle event. Chandela - a World Cup Final silver medalist and Commonwealth Games gold winner - finished 34th with a score of 411.6 while Ayonika ended at 43rd place with a final score of 407.
India’s third event of the day was at the Olympic Hockey Centre in Deodoro Olympic Park, the second largest venue cluster of the Rio Games. India’s fourth penalty of the first quarter was converted into a goal by VR Raghunath, who made it 1-0 in the 15th minute. With less than three minutes left in the second quarter, Rupinder Pal Singh put India up 2-0 with a thundering penalty corner strike. Ireland pulled things back in the last minute of the third quarter with a goal from John Jermyn, but their celebrations were short lived as Rupinder scored again with another stunning PC strike.
With five minutes to go, Ireland reduced the deficit to one goal thanks to Conor Harte. As the clock ticked down, India staved off Ireland’s charge to emerge winners. Clubbed with Ireland, Germany, Netherlands, Argentina and Canada in Group B, the Indian men’s team will next play Germany on Monday. India is the most successful country in men’s Olympic hockey, having won eight gold medals, but they have not reached the podium since the Moscow 1980 Games.
However, there was further disappointing news from the Olympic Tennis Centre, where the pair of Paes and Bopanna exited in the first round of the men’s doubles. Paes - in his record seventh Games - and Bopanna were beaten 4-6, 6-7 by Poland’s Marcin Matkowski and Lukas Kubot.
In table tennis, Das crashed out in the first round of the women’s singles when she was beaten 11-2, 11-7, 11-7 11-3 by Romania’s Daniela Monteiro Dodan in 19 minutes. Not long after, Batra lost 12-10, 6-11, 12-14, 11-8, 4-11, 12-14 to Poland’s Katarzyna Grzybowska-Franc.
Jitu’s compatriot Gurpreet Singh ended 20th in a field of 46 shooters, thus exiting the competition.
Results:
Rowing (Men’s single scull heats) - Dattu Baban Bokhanal - Qualified for QF
Shooting (women’s 10m air rifle) - Apurvi Chandela, Ayonika Paul - Failed to qualify
Table Tennis (women’s singles) - Mouma Das - Eliminated in round 1
Men’s hockey (group match): India beat Ireland 3-2
Tennis (men’s doubles) - Leander Paes & Rohan Bopanna - Eliminated in round 1
Table Tennis (women’s singles) - Manika Batra - Eliminated in round 1
Shooting (10m air pistol) qualification - Jitu Rai - Finished eighth in final
Gurpreet Singh - Eliminated in qualifying