Olympics: Shooters Ramita, Arjun qualify for finals

Arjun Babuta secured a spot in the 10m air rifle final of the Olympic Games after finishing seventh in the qualification round in Paris on Sunday.

The 25-year-old Babuta shot a series of 105.7, 104.9, 105.5, 105.4, 104.0 and 104.6 to make the cut with a score of 630.1 points.

He will take another shot at glory in the eight-shooter final on Monday after narrowly missing out on a final berth in the mixed team event with Ramita Jindal on Saturday, where the duo finished sixth in the qualification.

The Chandigarh-man, who has been in the national squad since 2016, has been a perennial underachiever before he came into national reckoning by clinching an Olympic berth at the Asian Shooting Championships last year in Changwon.

Army man Sandeep Singh shot 629.3 to finish 12th in the same event ending his Paris campaign, having achieved plenty of experience in his maiden Olympics after displacing world champion Rudrankksh Patil in the selection trials in April-May.

India's Ramita Jindal gave a strong display of marksmanship to qualify for the women's 10m air rifle final in fifth place even as Elavenil Valarivan succumbed to pressure to miss out despite being among the contenders, finishing 10th at the Paris Olympic Games on Sunday.

Ramita shrugged off the disappointment of missing the mixed team final along with Babuta on Saturday to give a strong display of marksmanship and qualify for the women's 10m air rifle final in fifth place.

The Hangzhou Asian Games bronze-medallist, aggregated 631.5, while compatriot Elavenil Valarivan scored 630.7 to finish 10th and miss the eight-shooter final.

Ramita had a sluggish start and was not among the top-eight till the sixth and final series but she rallied superbly to book a berth in the final.

Stalwart Elavenil, who had finished 16th at the Tokyo Olympics three years back, held on to the fifth position for much of the qualification round.

But a poor last series of 103.8 saw the 24-year-old former junior world champion take a mighty tumble from fifth to 10th spot and miss the eight-shooter final.

Ramita, who had scored 636.4 points, 0.1 more than the world record during the Olympic Selection Trials in New Delhi and Bhopal, was patchy initially, shooting a below-par 104.6 in the opening series before she shot 106.1 in the next round.

Another ordinary 104.9 was followed by two successive 105.3 and a 105.7 which fetched her a dream entry into the final.

THE OLYMPICS, 2024