Shooters Apurvi Chandela and Ayonika Paul Crash Out in Qualifiers

The men’s qualifying event is later tonight.

Ayonika Paul during an earlier practise round at Rio. (Photo: AP)

Just a few hours into the opening day of the Rio Olympics and Indian shooters Apurvi Chandela and Ayonika Paul have crashed out in the qualifiers of the women’s 10 metre air rifle event.

Apurvi was placed in the 34th position with a combined score of 411.6 while Ayonika was 43rd with 407.0 among 53 shooters at the Olympic Shooting Centre.

Both women had big hopes riding on them after Apurvi had bagged the gold and Paul the silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

23-year-old Chandela had secured an Olympic berth by finishing third at the 2015 ISSF World Cup in Korea. Later in the year, she had also bagged a silver in the World Cup Final held in Munich.

Paul, who is also 23, had won qualified for the games with a silver in the Asian Olympic Qualifying Competition this January.

Apurvi Chandela after a recent victory. (Photo: Twitter.com/OGQ_India))

China’s Du Li entered the quarter-finals, bagging the top spot with a score of 420.7, setting a new Olympic record at the event. Germany’s Barbara Engleder took the second spot with 420.3 while Iran’s Elaheh Ahmadi was third with 417.8 Apart from the top three, a Russian, two Americans, a Croatian and another Chinese shooter completed the top eight line-up.