"Please hold my hand. It's trembling," Elavenil Valarivan would plead to coach Dipali Deshpande after his second series in qualification. The 21-year-old current Women's 10m Rifle World No. 1 would go on to score a perfect 10.9 in third, bringing her average to 10.4 and coming within striking distance of the top eight for the first time in the round with tenth. climbing position. Fellow Indian and world record holder Apurvi Chandela struggled in the mid-reach of the 50-women's field and eventually fell to 37 with 621.9. At the end of an early morning 60 shots and 75 minutes of arithmetic for Indian sports fans, Elavenil posted a score of 626.5 and finished 16th. Both Indians missed out on the eight-women final, one with the learnings of the debut Games, the other with the agony of the other Olympics. Elavenil still has a strong medal prospect in the mixed team event, partnering Men's 10m Rifle World No 1, Divyansh Panwar.
Deshpande, who followed Elavenil during the match, says she discovered amazing growth and an unusually calm version of her usually impatient student. "Usually if Ila isn't in the zone or isn't feeling well she won't look me in the eyes during matches. Today wasn't one of those days. She was really cool, calm and extra alert. While she The strategy is ideal. The first 20-30 shots, once she's settled into her zone, she should have let her rhythm and instincts dominate. The idea is not to shoot all 60 shots the same way. She gave me the second one Asked to hold my hand after the series, I told her she was doing fine," she says.
"In the third it was clear that she felt more comfortable and was shooting in her natural style, but she continued to play it cautiously after that, which was a wrong move. This is her first game and today One thing he realizes is that the Olympic finals are no galaxy." Russia's Anastasia Galashina (who ultimately won silver) in the eight-woman final was on 628.5 when an 8.8 shot last threw Italian Sofia Cecarello out of the elite pool.
Apurvi, who had a stellar 2019 run with two World Cup gold and one silver, emerged as a different shooter after the pandemic-induced break. At the New Delhi World Cup in March this year, she managed only 622.8 in qualification and finished 26th out of 48 shooters. She recovered from Kovid and flew to Croatia with the Indian team, but her Osijek World Cup scores were low. His coach Rakesh Manpat says, "Yesterday (Friday) after his pre-program training, he told me that he was finding it difficult. "The only advice I gave him was to give my best and leave the street without any regrets. Today after qualifying he texted me saying 'I gave my best'. That's what you could ask an athlete." Huh."
For the first time in the Games, the number of female shooters has exceeded the total number of male shooters in individual events. The arena did not have a defending champion from the previous Games and promised an open competition and a new Olympic star. China's Yang Qian, 21, turned out to be anointed. The Chinese and Koreans arrived in Tokyo surrounded by mystery - everyone was speculating they were great, yet no one had seen them in the flesh, shooting at competitions, in over a year.
China underwent a nine-day rigorous selection test in Guangzhou in April - in favor of previous results, in which 2018 World Championship winner Zhao Ruzhou fell by the wayside and the young pair of Qian and Wang Luyao were chosen. American Carolyn Marie Tucker, 20, who taught herself through YouTube videos in her family's garage, won three medals, including a gold, in the individual event at the New Delhi World Cup this year. Norwegian Jeanette Hague Dusstad set an Olympic record 632.9 in qualifying and finished fourth in the final, while Fatemeh Karamzadeh of Iran, who posted an impressive 633.6 at the Osijek World Cup a few weeks ago, could not even make it. Top eight in qualifying.