‘He started badly and could not make up by hitting inner 10s’
India's biggest medal hope Jitu Rai got a wake-up call when he finished eighth in the finals as the much-fancied shooters drew a blank in the pistol events at the Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro, on Sunday.
The 28-year-old Army man was not in his usual self as he shot 580, a poor score by his standard, to be ranked sixth in qualification round, and he continued to struggle in the final by not being able to hit the inner ring to languish at the bottom of the final list.
Needing 0.7 points to stay afloat, the World Cup Bangkok 2016 gold medalist Jitu shot 10.1 in his seventh shot to lose out by 0.3 points, and finish with an overall 78.7.
"He started badly and could not make up by hitting inner 10s. It's past now, let's focus on what's next," his Army coach Lalit Sharma said blaming his poor start. Jitu did not speak to the media after the event.
The Olympic debutant, who has won at the Asian Games (gold and bronze in Incheon 2014), Commonwealth Games (gold in Glasgow 2014), World Cup (two gold, three silver and one bronze) and World Championships (silver in Granada 2014), will now train his eye on 50m pistol event on August 10.
