Experienced woman archer Laishram Bombayla Devi advanced to the pre-quarterfinals with couple of wins on what otherwise was another dismal day for India at the Olympic Games that saw medal hope Jitu Rai crashing out of the 50m pistol qualification here today.
Barring the 31-year-old archer’s fine display that saw her ward off challenges posed by rivals from Austria and Chinese Taipei with aplomb, there was little else to bring cheer to the Indian contingent with Rai’s early elimination especially dampening the spirit.
To add to India’s woes, judoka Avtar Singh failed to progress after losing to Refugee Olympic Team’s Misenga Popole in the second round of the men’s 90 kg and weightlifter Satish Sivalingam finished fourth in the men’s 77kg Group B (lower) category.
The country’s earnest wait for their first medal here, thus, continued on day 5 following the exit of Nepal-born Rai, winner of the gold medal in the same 50m pistol event in both the Commonwealth and Asian Games two years ago. Jitu started the qualification by scoring 91 and then 95 which were followed by scores of 90, 94 and 95, including four 10s in the fifth series, that propelled him to the fourth position at the completion of the series.
The Nepal-born Army man botched things up completely in the final series that included two eights, which left him way behind in the pecking order.
Not his usual self, a final effort of 10 was not enough for him to avoid elimination in his maiden Olympics. He ended up overall 12th with a total of 554 out of 600. He had finished eighth in the 10m Air Pistol event earlier.
