The Hindu : Sport / Olympic Games : Rathore and Jung fail to make an impact

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Sport - Olympic Games

Rathore and Jung fail to make an impact

Kamesh Srinivasan

BEIJING: After the high of the Olympic gold, it was difficult for the Indian contingent to stay in the hunt the day after. The dip came immediately, and from the shooting squad that has consistently done the country proud.

Athens Olympics silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was unable find even his normal form in the double trap event on Tuesday.

It was a tough task for Rathore to recover from a bad start, and he lost the race for a final berth very early in the day.

While Rathore shot a 131 with rounds of 43, 45 and 43, to take the 15th position in a field of 19, Commonwealth Games hero Samaresh Jung shot a 540 in free pistol to finish 42nd out of 45 shooters.

An emotional Rathore was unable to come to terms with a flurry of misses, but opted to look at the overall picture, and the efforts that had gone into preparing for the Games after the high of the last Olympics.

“It was a tough decision to continue after Athens. My coaches gave me the confidence. It was difficult today. Reaching the target is not that easy at this range. We tried our best to master it in 10 days. We could not achieve what we came to do,” said Rathore, who has seen a dip in his overall form this season.

Meanwhile, Walton Eller of the US broke the Olympic record in the preliminary phase with a 145 out of 150 to clinch the double trap gold.

“Being a shooter with the US army, I do what is expected of me. I don’t know how to better represent the US than with a gold medal in my hand,” said Eller.

Francesco D’Aniello of Italy got the silver ahead of Hu Binyuan of China. It was an improvement for the Chinese after the fourth place in the last edition.

“The goal I set before the Games was to step on the podium. In the next Olympics, I will strive for the gold,” said the Chinese, who wore the same gear that he had used in the Athens Games.

Former champions slip

The former Olympic champions, Russell Mark of Australia and the World No. 1 Richard Faulds of Britain, had to be content taking the fifth and sixth spots with 181 and 180 respectively. The Aussie had to win a shoot-off with the defending champion Ahmed Al Maktoum of the UAE and two others to gain the last berth for the final.

“A 190 on this range is fantastic. The best guy won,” said Mark, on the champion.

“I tried my hardest for a medal, but I haven’t got one. So, back to the drawing board,” said Faulds.

Though Rathore said he was looking forward to getting back to his family and playing with his kids who have been missing him for months, the champion may get back to the challenges of shooting once again after a good rest.

Meanwhile, Jin Jong Oh of Korea, the silver medallist in Athens, claimed his first Olympic gold in the men’s free pistol by a 0.2 point margin, after having entered the final in the sixth place.

Mikhail Nestruev of Russia, the defending champion, continued to struggle and finished 24th with a 552 while the World No. 1 Joao Costa of Portugal finished 33rd with a 549.

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