The mixed team events had seen the most success for Indian shooters in the last few years with Saurabh Chaudhary & Manu Bhaker together winning six World Cup golds since 2018 and Divyansh Singh Panwar & Elavenil Valariva winning one just this year.
However, Tuesday turned out to be another day of disappointments for the 15-strong contingent as all eight shooters competing in two mixed team events failed to qualify for the medal rounds.
Saurabh Chaudhary & Manu Bhaker along with Abhishek Verma & Yashaswini Singh Deswal were competing in the 10m Air Pistol mixed team event while Divyansh Singh Panwar & Elavenil Valarivan and also Deepak Kumar & Anjum Moudgil were in action in the 10m Air Rifle mixed team event.
India's Saurabh Chaudhary reacts during the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team event, at the Summer Olympics 2020, in Tokyo, Tuesday, July 27, 2021.
(Photo: PTI)
Heartbreak for Medal Favourites Manu, Saurabh
Saurabh Chaudhary and Manu Bhaker finished the first qualification round in the top sport but failed to qualify for the medal matches, finishing seventh in Qualification Stage 2.
The other Indian pair in the event, Abhishek Verma and Yashaswini Singh Deswal, bowed out with a 17th place finish in Qualification Stage 1.
Chaudhary and Manu, who were strong favourites after winning all four mixed team gold medals in the four World Cups in 2019, suffered due to a poor start in the eight-team field and finished with a total score of 380 (Chaudhary 194/200 and Manu 186/200). They needed to be in the top four to qualify for any of the two medal matches.
While Chaudhary shot a solid 96/100 in series 1 of the Qualification Stage 2, Manu was off-colour shooting 92, which saw the Indian pair sink to the bottom of the eight-team field.
The duo did marginally better in series 2 scoring 192 -- Chaudhary 98 and Manu 94 -- but it wasn't enough to lead them into the top-four.
India's Manu Bhaker reacts during the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team shooting event, at the Summer Olympics 2020, in Tokyo, Tuesday, July 27, 2021.
(Photo: PTI)
Earlier in Qualification Stage 1, Chaudhary and Manu had given indication that they were gunning for the top prize when they topped the 20-team field with a total score of 582/600 (Manu 286/300 and Chaudhary 296/300).
Abhishek Verma (283/300) and Yasahaswini Singh Deswal's (281/300) combined score of 564, however, was not good enough as the pair finished 17th.
Chaudhary and Manu started the Qualification Stage 1 in sensational fashion, combining to score 195/200 (Chaudhary 98/100 and Manu 97/100) in the first series to move to the top right away.
In the second series, the duo consolidated their position with Chaudhary shooting a perfect 100 with his 10 shots while Manu turned up with a 94. They came up with imposing numbers in the third series as well, combining for 193 (Chaudhary 98 and Manu 95) to move into Qualification Stage 2.
India's Divyansh Singh Panwar during the 10m Air Pistol Men's Qualification event at the Summer Olympics 2020, in Tokyo, Sunday, July 25, 2021.
(Photo: PTI)
No Finalists in 10m Air Rifle Either
Divyansh Singh Panwar & Elavenil Valarivan along with Deepak Kumar & Anjum Moudgil were the four Indians competing in the mixed team event of the 10m air rifle and while Panwar and Valarivan have had success together on the international circuit, neither of the pairs could get past Qualification Round 1 on Tuesday.
Elavenil and Divyansh shot a combined 626.5 for a 12th place finish, while Deepak Kumar and Anjum Moudgil shot 623.8 to also finish outside the top eight at 18th spot.
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