A billion hopes for a medal have been wandering from one Indian athlete to another throughout the last four days of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. The first Indian athlete to come close to a medal was shooter Jitu Rai, who had qualified for the medal round of his 10m air pistol event but eventually ended up finishing eighth. However, the same man is set to participate in the Men’s 50m Pistol event today and could get India off the mark on the medals tally in Rio de Janeiro.
Disappointment for the Indian fans came again when the experienced Abhinav Bindra took part in the men’s 10m air rifle event on the day 3 of the Games along with fellow countryman Gagan Narang. However, things did not work out well for the latter who bowed out in qualification round after having started well. Bindra, on the other hand, was determined to make a mark on his last last appearance for the nation. He managed to qualify for the final round where heroically he competed with a replacement gun to finish 4th in the rankings.
Bindra was left disappointed and heart broken after just losing out on a podium finish by the skin of his teeth. However, Indian fans do not have to worry anymore about the nation opening it’s account on the medal table. Jitu Rai will be taking part in the men’s 50m pistol event today and he is no mug with the pistol in his hand. The shooter is currently ranked world number three in this event and is widely expected to do well later tonight.
His main problem in the earlier event had been that the 29-year old had started the final round under pressure as he looked taken aback by the scale of the occasion. Jitu seemed fairly confident in the qualification round but his surge got derailed somehow. Maybe, the pressure of winning a medal and the final round being televised may have gotten to Jitu. But as his army coach Lalit Sharma has said, Jitu did not start off well in the final round as he could not even manage a 10-pointer but the shooter is sure to make amends later tonight.
Jitu’s journey to the podium may not be as simple as it seems as the shooter will be competing against opponents in the form of podium finishers – 10m air pistol gold medalist Xuan Vinh Hoang, silver medalist Brazil’s Felipe Almeida Wu and bronze medal Pang Wei from China. There will be a total of 40 other shooters who will be looking to qualify for the final round. But Jitu’s aim from the start will be to win the gold medal in this event.
He might be representing India at his first Olympic Games in Rio but his chances of winning are strong because the shooter has dominated every tournament he has taken part in recently. Jitu had won a gold and a bronze medal at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, along with the gold medal he won at the 2014 Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow. Add two gold medals, four silver medals and one bronze medal to that list of medals – this is what Jitu has won at the ISSF events.
Things might not have gone the way of Indians till now in 2016 Rio Olympics but with Atanu Das progressing well in Archery, men’s hockey team moving forward swiftly and several others yet to take part, our disappointment might be premature.
