Tokyo Olympics / Manu, Yashaswini fail to qualify for women's 10m Air Pistol final at Tokyo Olympics

Sports Desk: Manu Bhaker missed the 10m Air Pistol Women’s Final berth by a real whisker. The World No. 2 finished the qualification with 575 points and at the 12th spot in the 53-woman field.

World No. 1 Yashaswini Deswal finished with 574 points and at the 13th spot while the top 8 qualified. In fact, France’s Celine Goberville took the final qualification spot with a score of 577 and 15X.

Manu Bhaker needed an X in her final shot but the 19-year-old shot an 8 that eventually knocked her out of the competition. It was a difficult day for Manu as faced a technical glitch and did not shoot for as many as 5 minutes in her 3rd series.

Manu Bhaker recovered well to shoot 98 in the 5th series but she was seemingly under a bit of time pressure. Indian shooting contingent, which was expected to be India’s biggest medal hope, has drawn blank so far. In 3 medal events, India have had only a finalist.

Earlier on Saturday, India had a disappointing day in shooting. The first possible medal event for India did not have competitors as World No. 1 Elavenil Valarivan and world-record holder and senior shooter Apurvi Chandela failed to make the final of the 10m Air Rifle Women’s Qualification.

Saurabh Chaudhary topped the 10m Air Pistol Men’s Qualification round but he finished 7th in the final. Abhishek Verma, the World No. 1, did not make it to the final on Saturday.