Ace pistol shooter Jitu Rai dejected after 12th place finish in 50m forces him to return home from the 2016 Rio Olympics empty-handed; says he 'does not want to make excuses'
Rio de Janeiro: "I've let my country down. There was wind, but I don't want to make any excuses," a dejected Jitu Rai told reporters after finishing 12th at the 50m Pistol men's event in the qualification round at the Olympic Shooting centre yesterday.
Jitu Rai during a training session in Rio on Tuesday. Pic/PTI
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The armyman consistently managed to hit the bull's eye on nine occasions in what is considered as his pet event and his cumulative scores after the six series qualification round read 92, 95, 90, 94, 95 and 88 to total 554. But a poor sixth and final series cost him the berth to the finals.
He has never scored a low of 88. Last four scores at Rio were 8, 8, 7 and 10. The three low scores took away his entry into the finals, although in the earlier series he had consistently scored highs, remaining in the top eight throughout. Only eight shooters go through to the finals.
After his last series, and the disastrous scores, Rai came and sat down in the chair behind, as if he had been hit. He perhaps couldn't believe that he had botched it up in just three shots out of a total of 60.
Jitu Rai
National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) president Raninder Singh on Wednesday termed shooter Jitu Rai's elimination from the ongoing Rio Olympics as 'shocking'.
"I am absolutely surprised. I don't know what to say. I have never seen Jitu Rai shoot like this in the closing minute. Perhaps he totally misread the wind. I can understand one shot going awry. But three? This is totally out of the blue. To get 88 in the last one is unheard of from him," Singh said.
Another Indian shooter Prakash Nanjappa also finished a lowly 25th to crash out in the 50m vent. Earlier, on Sunday, a poor start start cost Rai as he was the first one to be eliminated in the final of 10m air pistol event.
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