Ace shooter Abhinav Bindra's hopes of clinching back to back medals at the Olympic Games came crashing down when he shockingly failed to qualify for the final round at the Royal Artillery Barracks on Monday.
The 29-year-old marksman from Zirakpur near Chandigarh, who created history and a frenzy four years ago at Beijing when he won the gold medal in the men's 10m air rifle event -- the first ever individual Olympic title won by an Indian -- finished a lowly 16th from among 47 competitors with a score of 594 out of 600 to make his exit from the Games.
However, Bindra's compatriot Gagan Narang kept the country's medal hopes alive by entering the eight-man final, to be held later today.
The Hyderabad marksman raked up a tally of 598 which helped him clinch the third spot, just a point behind the number one and two qualifiers -- world number one Niccolo Campriani of Italy and Romania's Moldoveanu Alin George who both shot an Olympic-record equalling 599.
Narang, who won four gold medals at the Delhi Commonwealth Games two years ago, will compete with Campriani and George along with five other qualifiers in the final round.
Bindra began the defence of his title with two 99s in the first two series before coming back strongly by getting two perfect 10s for consecutive 100s in the third and fourth rounds.
The two 100s gave Bindra the lift and the belief he badly needed after dropping a point each in the first two sets.
However, a 99 in the fifth and an even poorer outing in the last series where he could score just 97, dashed Bindra's chances of earning a berth in the eight-man finals.
The man who became the pin-up boy of Indian shooting after his heroics in Beijing in 2008 later conceded he was inconsistent and it was simply not his day.
'This was not my day. I started slowly and there was a lot of pressure. It was a very highly competitive field, my performance went up and down,' Bindra told reporters after his disappointing show, his was the only event the 29-year-old Bindra was taking part, thereby cutting short his campaign in the ongoing Games, but he insisted he has no plans to retire.
'It has been a nice journey for me and I have worked hard for this, but unfortunately, I could not make it to the finals,' he added.
Narang, on the other hand, was bang on target from the beginning, scoring two successive 100s, but a 98 in the third series somewhat let down the quadruple gold medal winner at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
The 29-year-old Hyderabadi, however, kept his cool and fought his way back into the reckoning for the medal round with a perfect 100 in the fourth series and then clinched the spot as the third best performer by notching two more 100s in his last two rounds.
There was another setback for the country's sagging hopes in the archery competition when L
Bambayla Devi was ousted from the women's individual event at the pre-quarterfinal stage by Roman Aida of Mexico 6-2.
Bambayla had raised slim visions of a medal when she performed superbly to enter the last 16 by despatching first round rival Evangelia Psarra of Greece easily with a 6-4 margin.
India begin their campaign in men's hockey later today while tennis players would also be seen in action at Wimbledon after their doubles matches got postponed due to rains yesterday.
Also seen in action would be major medal hope in badminton, Saina Nehwal, who would be playing her second group match, and light heavy (81kg) boxer Sumit Sangwan.
The 29-year-old marksman from Zirakpur near Chandigarh, who created history and a frenzy four years ago at Beijing when he won the gold medal in the men's 10m air rifle event -- the first ever individual Olympic title won by an Indian -- finished a lowly 16th from among 47 competitors with a score of 594 out of 600 to make his exit from the Games.
However, Bindra's compatriot Gagan Narang kept the country's medal hopes alive by entering the eight-man final, to be held later today.
The Hyderabad marksman raked up a tally of 598 which helped him clinch the third spot, just a point behind the number one and two qualifiers -- world number one Niccolo Campriani of Italy and Romania's Moldoveanu Alin George who both shot an Olympic-record equalling 599.
Narang, who won four gold medals at the Delhi Commonwealth Games two years ago, will compete with Campriani and George along with five other qualifiers in the final round.
Bindra began the defence of his title with two 99s in the first two series before coming back strongly by getting two perfect 10s for consecutive 100s in the third and fourth rounds.
The two 100s gave Bindra the lift and the belief he badly needed after dropping a point each in the first two sets.
However, a 99 in the fifth and an even poorer outing in the last series where he could score just 97, dashed Bindra's chances of earning a berth in the eight-man finals.
The man who became the pin-up boy of Indian shooting after his heroics in Beijing in 2008 later conceded he was inconsistent and it was simply not his day.
'This was not my day. I started slowly and there was a lot of pressure. It was a very highly competitive field, my performance went up and down,' Bindra told reporters after his disappointing show, his was the only event the 29-year-old Bindra was taking part, thereby cutting short his campaign in the ongoing Games, but he insisted he has no plans to retire.
'It has been a nice journey for me and I have worked hard for this, but unfortunately, I could not make it to the finals,' he added.
Narang, on the other hand, was bang on target from the beginning, scoring two successive 100s, but a 98 in the third series somewhat let down the quadruple gold medal winner at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
The 29-year-old Hyderabadi, however, kept his cool and fought his way back into the reckoning for the medal round with a perfect 100 in the fourth series and then clinched the spot as the third best performer by notching two more 100s in his last two rounds.
There was another setback for the country's sagging hopes in the archery competition when L
Bambayla Devi was ousted from the women's individual event at the pre-quarterfinal stage by Roman Aida of Mexico 6-2.
Bambayla had raised slim visions of a medal when she performed superbly to enter the last 16 by despatching first round rival Evangelia Psarra of Greece easily with a 6-4 margin.
India begin their campaign in men's hockey later today while tennis players would also be seen in action at Wimbledon after their doubles matches got postponed due to rains yesterday.
Also seen in action would be major medal hope in badminton, Saina Nehwal, who would be playing her second group match, and light heavy (81kg) boxer Sumit Sangwan.