Tokyo Olympics : Elavenil Valarivan, Apurvi Chandela fizzle out, fail to reach 10m air rifle final

Tokyo : India’s campaign in the Tokyo Olympics shooting competition started on a disappointing note with Elavenil Valarivan and Apurvi Chandela failing to make it to the final in the 10 metre air rifle competition at the Asaka Shooting Range here on Saturday.Elavenil, the world No 1 in the category, failed to find form as she managed a score of 626.5 out of a possible 654 with her 60 shots in the qualifying round. She finished 16th in a field comprising 50 competitors.Elavenil’s best in qualifying has been in the range of 632-633 but she failed to find her rhythm and form on Saturday.Apurvi could shoot only 621.9 and was placed 36th as the top eight shooters made it to the final.The 15-member Indian shooting contingent has had reached Tokyo after a lengthy training-cum-competition camp in Zagreb, Croatia and has come into the Olympic Games with lot of hopes, having done well in international competitions in the intervening period between the 2016 Rio and Tokyo Olympics.Norway’s Jeanette Hegg Duestad led the way into the finals, topping the qualifying standings with 632.9. South Korea’s Park Heemoon (631.7) and USA’s Mary Tucker (631.4) were placed second and third respectively. The Russian Olympic Committee’s (ROC) Anastasiia Galashina (628.5) was eighth and last shooter to make it to the finals.Elavenil started slowly at the Asaka Shooting Range as she had scores of 104.3 and 104.0 in the first two series of 10 shots. She bounced back with 106.0 in the third series but the 21-year-old could not keep up the momentum in the next 30 shots as she came up with scores of 104.2, 103.5 and 104.5.Apurvi shot 102.5 in the second series, 102.2 in fifth and 103.6 in the sixth series as her challenge fizzled out.