Paris Olympics 2024: Shooter Ramita Jindal qualifies for women's 10m air rifle final, Elavenil misses out

Indian shooter Ramita Jindal delivered an impressive performance to qualify for the women's 10m air rifle final in fifth place at the Olympic Games on Sunday. Despite Elavenil Valarivan being a strong contender, she succumbed to pressure and missed out, finishing 10th.

Ramita, who previously won a bronze medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games in this event, scored 631.5, becoming the second Indian shooter after Manu Bhaker to secure a spot in the final. Elavenil, on the other hand, scored 630.7.

Ramita started slowly and was not in the top eight until the final series, where she rallied brilliantly to secure her place in the final. Meanwhile, Elavenil, who finished 16th at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, maintained the fifth position for much of the qualification round but ultimately did not advance.

However, a poor final series of 103.8 caused the 24-year-old former junior world champion, Elavenil Valarivan, to fall from fifth to 10th place, missing the eight-shooter final.

Ramita, who had previously scored 636.4 points—0.1 more than the world record—during the Olympic Selection Trials in New Delhi and Bhopal, had a patchy start. She shot a below-par 104.6 in the opening series, followed by an improved 106.1 in the next round.

Another ordinary score of 104.9 was followed by two successive rounds of 105.3 and a final round of 105.7, securing her a dream entry into the final.

South Korea's Ban Hyojin set a new Qualification Olympic Record (QOR) with an outstanding score of 634.5, surpassing the previous record of 632.9 set by Norway's Jeanette Hegg at the Tokyo Games.

Elavenil Valarivan, who had struggled after the Tokyo Games and missed out on the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, maintained an average score of 10.5 throughout the qualifying round. She shot impressive series of 105.8, 106.1, 104.4, 105.3, and 105.3. However, a poor final series of 103.8 caused her to bow out of the competition.