Paris Olympics 2024: Indian 10m mixed air rifle teams crash out in qualification round

Both of India's 10m air rifle mixed teams, Sandeep Singh/Elavenil Valarivan and Arjun Babuta/Ramita Jindal, fell short of qualifying for the medal matches in the shooting event at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Saturday.

In order to advance to the medal matches, the teams needed to place in the top four during the qualifying round. Unfortunately, Arjun Babuta/Ramita Jindal narrowly missed out, finishing sixth with a score of 628.7 at the National Shooting Center in Châteauroux. Sandeep Singh/Elavenil Valarivan came in 12th with a score of 626.3.

The People's Republic of China's Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao, the reigning world champions in the event, secured the top spot in the qualifiers with a score of 632.2. They will face the Republic of Korea's Keum Jihyeon and Hajun Park, who scored 631.4, in the gold medal match.

The third-placed Kazakhstan duo of Alexandra Le and Islam Satpayev, with a score of 630.8, will compete against the German team of Anna Janssen and Maximilian Ulbrich, who scored 629.7, in the bronze medal match later in the day.

Arjun Babuta and Ramita Jindal narrowly missed the cut-off by a single point, primarily due to a subpar performance in their first series, resulting in a total score of 208.7. Despite improving with scores of 210.6 and 209.4 in their subsequent blocks, they fell short of breaking into the top four.

Similarly, Sandeep Singh and Elavenil Valarivan faced a similar fate, starting with a disappointing score of 207.5 in their initial series. They attempted to bounce back with scores of 210.0 and 208.8 in the following series but were unable to secure a top position.

The medal matches for the 10m air rifle mixed team events were set to take place later in the day, presenting India with its first opportunity to compete for a medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

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