Heena Sidhu, Annu Raj bow out of Olympics

Indian shooters continued to misfire at the Olympic Games as Heena Sidhu and Annu Raj Singh bowed out of the women's 10m air pistol event after failing to qualify for the finals in London on Sunday.

Heena came close after finishing 12th with a score of 382 while Annu Raj ended 23rd at the Royal Artillery Barracks.

While Heena had a sequence of 93 97 97 95, Annu Raj shot a series of 94 96 97 91, efforts not good enough to see them into the top-8.

China's Wenjun Guo won the gold medal, the silver went to France's Celine Goberville while the bronze medal was won by Olena Kostevych of Ukraine.

Vijay Kumar could not qualify for the final of the men's 10m air pistol event on Sunday.

The 23-year-old Heena, who was preferred ahead of Athens Games silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, could manage a total of 382 while Annu compiled 378, an effort which was not good enough to make the cut.

The Indian duo was not serious medal contenders but Heena was at least expected to qualify for the finals.

"I think it was because of the huge pressure on her. It is her first Olympics and the pressure perhaps had a bearing on her performance. It is not easy, but we have to take it," India's national coach Sunny Thomas said.

Heena, who won the silver medal in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou and one gold and silver in the commonwealth Games in New Delhi, had scores of 93 97 97 95 but it was her nervy show in the first round that ultimately had a bearing on her performance.

The 28-year-old Annu, who won a gold medal in the 2010 Commonwealth Games and a bronze in 2012 Asian Championship in Doha, had scores of 94 96 97 91, paying the price for a poor low score in the last round.

Results: Women's 10m Air Pistol Qualification

1. Guo Wenjun, China, 388 (Q).

2. Olena Kostevych, Ukraine, 387 (Q).

3. Celine Goberville, France, 387 (Q).

4. Su Yuling, China, 386 (Q).

5. Zorana Arunovic, Serbia, 385 (Q).

6. Viktoria Chaika, Belarus, 385 (Q).

7. Lenka Maruskova, Czech Republic, 385 (Q).

8. Liubov Yaskevich, Russia, 385 (Q).

9. Antoaneta Boneva, Bulgaria, 384.

10. Yong Suk Jo, North Korea, 384.

11. Tanyaporn Prucksakorn, Thailand, 383.

12. Heena Sidhu, India, 382.

13. Kim Jangmi, South Korea, 382.

14. Dina Aspandiyarova, Australia, 382.

15. Joana Castelao, Portugal, 381.

16. Zsofia Csonka, Hungary, 381.

17. Kim Byunghee, South Korea, 381.

18. Gundegmaa Otryad, Mongolia, 380.

19. Alejandra Zavala, Mexico, 380.

20. Claudia Verdicchio Krause, Germany, 380.

21. Thi Hoang Ngoc Le, Vietnam, 379.

22. Bobana Velickovic, Serbia, 379.

23. Annu Raj Singh, India, 378.

24. Maria Grozdeva, Bulgaria, 378.

25. Munkhbayar Dorjsuren, Germany, 378.

26. Sonia Franquet, Spain, 378.

27. Chia Chen Tien, Taiwan, 378.

28. Sandra Uptagrafft, United States, 378.

29. Marina Zgurscaia, Moldova, 377.

30. Noura Nasri, Tunisia, 377.

31. Yukari Konishi, Japan, 377.

32. Mira Suhonen, Finland, 377.

33. Nino Salukvadze, Georgia, 376.

34. Dorothy Ludwig, Canada, 376.

35. Heidi Diethelm Gerber, Switzerland, 375.

36. Ai Wen Yu, Taiwan, 375.

37. Natalia Paderina, Russia, 375.

38. Stephanie Tirode, France, 375.

39. Irada Ashumova, Azerbaijan, 372.

40. Lalita Yauhleuskaya, Australia, 371.

41. Naphaswan Yangpaiboon, Thailand, 370.

42. Athina Douka, Greece, 369.

43. Ana Luiza Souza Lima, Brazil, 367.

44. Beata Bartkow Kwiatkowska, Poland, 366.

45. Maribel Pineda, Venezuela, 365.

46. Noor Amer Al Ameri, Iraq, 360.

47. Georgina Geikie, Britain, 359.

48. Claudia Carolina Fajardo Rodriguez, Honduras, 348.

49. Pui Yi Ip, Hong Kong, 346.