India’s shooting team faced another setback at the Paris 2024 Olympics as Sarabjot Singh and Arjun Cheema fell short of reaching the final in the men’s 10m air pistol event on Saturday.
Cheema, who finished in 18th place with a score of 574-17x points, and Sarabjot, who ended in 9th place with 577-16x points, both failed to secure a spot in the final eight, which were required to advance to the medal round. The qualification round allowed players to take 60 shots over 75 minutes, with only eight out of 33 advancing to the final.
In the initial series, Cheema was in 12th place with 96 points, while Sarabjot was at 28th with 94 points. By the second series, Cheema had moved up to 10th place with a score of 97, and Sarabjot was also in 10th place with the same score.
However, Sarabjot’s performance fluctuated, and he dropped to 17th place with a score of 96 in the third series. Cheema improved his position to 4th with consistent scoring. Despite a strong fourth series where Sarabjot climbed to 3rd place with a series of perfect 10s, Cheema remained outside the top eight, in 14th place.
In the final rounds, Cheema ended up 18th with a total of 574-17x, while Sarabjot finished 9th with 577-16x points, falling just short of the top eight.
Earlier in the Olympics, India’s shooting campaign had already seen disappointment as both Indian teams in the 10m air rifle mixed team qualifiers failed to advance to the medal matches. Elavenil Valarivan and Sandeep Singh, along with Arjun Babuta and Ramita Jindal, could not make it to the final four, finishing 6th and 12th respectively.
The women’s 10m air pistol qualification featuring Manu Bhaker and Rhythm Sangwan is set to take place at 4 pm.
