New Delhi: A potentially fruitful evening turned into a double disappointment for India at the Paris Olympics on Monday.
Maheshwari Chauhan and Anant Jeet Singh Naruka, bidding to become the first Indian shooters to win a medal in Skeet Mixed Team event at the Olympics, lost out in the bronze-medal playoff match by 1 point.
The Chinese pair of Jianlin Lyu and Yiting Jian hit all their four shots in the final series to finish with 44 points. Maheshwari and Anant Jeet, on the other hand, finished fourth with 43 points.
Hopes still rested on Lakshya Sen to bring home the country’s first Olympic medal in men’s singles.
But the 22-year-old once again squandered opportunities to hand the bronze medal to Malaysian opponent Lee Zii Jia.
Like he did for most of his semifinal against the formidable Viktor Axelsen a day earlier, Lakshya looked good for a win. He pocketed the opening game easily, led 8-2 in the second only to lose 21-13, 16-21, 11-21 in the one-hour, 10-minute match.
Lakshya, who cut his arm after falling on the floor while trying to retrieve a return from Jia, needed medical timeout and played for second half of the match with a bandage.
It was a tournament which promised so much for Lakshya, yet he will be returning home empty-handed.
After 10 days of competition, India thus remained content with just 3 bronze medals – all from shooting.
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