Former world No. 1, Ronjan Sodhi, was considered one of the best bets to win a medal in the London Olympics. But the double-trap marksman could not live up to expectations, making a quiet exit after the qualification round on Thursday.
Ronjan shot 134 out of a possible 150, while the last marksman who made it to the six-player final had a score of 137.
"I was confident of doing well. But in the last three shots (each shot has two birds), I missed four times. Overall, it was a poor third round that cost me a berth in the final. It's my mistake that I am not there in the final," said Ronjan.
After a brilliant first round, where he topped the table with a 48/50, Ronjan missed two birds at the beginning of the second round and eventually ended up missing four more birds to be placed sixth at the end of the second round with (48+44) 92/100 points.
Hoping to cover the gap in the third and last qualification round, Ronjan started well, but fumbled in the end. He missed eight birds in the round and his aggregate of 134 was not enough to get him through to the final, where six shooters compete for medals.
{{/usCountry}}Hoping to cover the gap in the third and last qualification round, Ronjan started well, but fumbled in the end. He missed eight birds in the round and his aggregate of 134 was not enough to get him through to the final, where six shooters compete for medals.
{{/usCountry}}"In the morning when I got up, I was in a very good mood. I was optimistic and there was no pressure. I knew I had to perform. After a good first round, I was sure of taking my good form into the next two rounds, but I failed," said Ronjan. "I've never shot such a poor round in my life."
Of the 16 misses, Ronjan missed the target nine times from station No 1. "Earlier too, I've had problems shooting from station No 1 and again the same thing happened. It's probably due to some technical shortcoming in my shooting style. I have to figure it out," said Ronjan. "I am also not used to spectators shouting in the background. Earlier, the spectators were not allowed to make noise when shooting was in progress, but now there is no such restriction. However, this is not an excuse and the end result is that I failed to perform," he added.
Jai Bhagwan out
Meanwhile, Jai Bhagwan was outboxed by Kazakhstan's Gani Zhailauov in the last 16 of the 60kg category. Bhagwan became the third boxer to fall after the ouster of Shiva Thapa (56kg) and Sumit Sangwan (81kg) as he lost 8-16.