Rio Olympics: Jitu Rai makes tearful exit

Rio de Janeiro: "I have let my country down," a tearful Jitu Rai said right after he failed to qualify for the final round of the 50m pistol event at the Olympic Shooting Range in Deodoro Park on Wednesday. An emotional Jitu then made another heart-wrenching statement: “Aisa lagta hai ki maine desh ko dokha diya hai (it feels like I have deceived my country)." The diminutive armyman's brutal confession said it all. Otherwise, all other high profile shooters – barring Abhinav Bindra – had excuses ready for heir dismal showing. This morning, India’s medal hopes in shooting crashed one more time after Jitu's failure to qualify for the final of the 50m pistol event. Jitu seemingly buckled under pressure after going steady at No. 4 during the qualification series. Suddenly the world No. 3 pistol ace lost his guile and shot three poor shots which ended his Rio campaign on a sorry note — much against the hopes of the Indian shooting fraternity. Jitu shot a total of 554 and ended 12th in a field of 41 shooters when a sure shot fourth place was for him to take. For the 28-year-old World Cup silver medalist, 50m pistol was his pet event and he was expected to deliver a medal, but all calculations and hope went out of the window when he began shooting the final series and placed 7th at a given time. Jitu shot two back-to-back 10s to propel himself to No 4 position before two 8s and one 7 spoiled the show and all the hard work that had gone over the years. With just two shots to go, Jitu needed to reach 556, which was certainly achievable, but nerves failed him at that very moment as he aimed twice and took eyes off the target to compose himself. The shot he took was a 7 and he knew there was nothing he could do more to make the grade and he ended with a total of 554, two points shy of forcing a possible shoot-off. Earlier, he began tentatively shooting the first series with 92. There was immediate improvement as Jitu fired some 10s to earn 95 from second series, but the third series was catastrophe, not only for him but for others too. Jitu shot 90 in the third series, but rallied brilliantly to mark 94 and 95 in the next two and kept himself within top 8. As the luck would have it, while other shooters finished their series and 60 shots, Jitu still had four shots remaining and at fourth place. That now seems a mirage as he crashed from No 4 to No 12 in just two shots leaving him no time to recover and regain grip over the situation. "I am shell shocked, I never expected such a meltdown from Jitu at a crucial stage" said a distraught National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) president Raninder Singh. "I just cannot comprehend what happened to Jitu. At one stage he was comfortably placed at 4th and then this catastrophic last round," he added. Veteran Shooter Randhir Singh said, "Luck seems to have deserted the Indians. Otherwise how could they finish like this," adding, "It looks like hit and run cases."