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'It could have been better with a medal; I came very, very close. But I am very, very happy.'
Abhinav Bindra's quest for a second Olympics medal ended in disappointment, as he lost a tense shoot-off in the men's 10 metre Air Rifle event on Monday, the third day of competition at the Rio Games.
India’s lone individual Olympic gold medallist was beaten in a shoot-off by Ukrainian Serhiy Kulish after both were tied for third place at 163.8 points following 16 shots.
Bindra, playing in his fifth Olympics, was deprived of a fairytale ending to a glorious career as he was the fifth shooter to be eliminated in the race for a podium finish.
"That's the way it is. Somebody had to be fourth, and I am fourth! I did well. I gave it all and I am very, very proud how I finished.
“It was a good day, a hard day. I put it all, gave what I had and ended up fourth in the world at the Olympics to close my career.
“It could have been better with a medal; I came very, very close. But I am very, very happy," Bindra told reporters.
The 33-year-old marksman, who won gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the same event, was placed second at one stage in the final. He was fourth in the first elimination round but jumped to second after the second.
He scored a fantastic 10.7 with his 11th shot to jump to second, but dropped to third after the third elimination round.
Two mediocre shots took him to fourth after the fourth elimination round but he bounced back with scores of 10.6 and 10.2 later.
But that was not enough for him to stay clear in the top three as he was tied in third place with Kulish at 163.8 points.
In the shoot-off, despite strong backing from Indian supporters, Bindra just could not make it count.
Italy's Niccolo Campriani, silver medalist in the London Games four years ago, won the gold while Kulish and Russian
Vladimir Maslennikov took the silver and bronze respectively.
It was learned that Bindra had to deal with equipment malfunction.
Just before the start of the 10m air rifle qualification at 9am local time, he fell down along with his gun from the chair and, as a result, the 'sight' of his rifle broke.
"This is something a shooter would not want before a game. He had specially made it for the Olympics to suit the lighting. Even after such meticulous detailing he fell short. But a shooter is conditioned to shoot even if the roof is falling. We got over it and started with our game," his coach Heinz Reinkemeier said.
At the Beijing 2008, there was another incident where his gun was tampered with, just before the final, but it did not matter to him as he clinched India's first individual gold.
Earlier in the day, Bindra had qualified for the finals at seventh spot after scoring 625.7, while London Olympics bronze medallist Gagan Narang missed out after finishing a lowly 23rd.
Bindra joined Apurvi Chandela, Ayonika Paul, Kynan Chenai and Manavjit Singh Sandhu as the other shooters who exited from the shooting events.
Gagan Narang has two more events -- 50m rifle prone and 50m three-position left.
Jitu Rai, who had exited in the 10m air pistol along with Gurpreet Singh, will be participating in the 50m pistol.
Gurpreet will also be seen in action in the 25m rapid fire.
Having exited from 10m air pistol, Heena Sidhu will compete in the 25m pistol.
There is hope from Chain Singh (50m rifle prone and three positions) and Prakash Nanjappa (50m pistol).