New Delhi: Indian shooting got poorer on August 8, as Abhinav Bindra – India's most decorated shooter retired from the sport after missing out on another Olympic medal.
On Day 3 of the Rio Olympics, expectations were high from the veteran shooter to open India's medal count at the mega event.
Considering the fact that he is India's only gold medalist at an individual event in Olympics (Gold medalist at Beijing in 2008), the entire country waited with bated breath as the 10m Air Rifle event kicked off.
In the qualifying rounds, he wasn't at his best and was ranked seventh in the qualifying round with a score of 625.7. Narang, another shooter in the same event, was eliminated after finishing a lousy 23rd in the qualifying, with a score of 621.7.
There wasn't a fairytale finish to Bindra's career as he finished fourth in the finals of the men’s 10m air rifle shooting event as he lost the shoot off for bronze medal against 23-year-old Ukranian S Kulish.
Bindra, who was also the country’s flagbearer in the opening ceremony, had made it clear much ahead of the even that Rio Olympics would be his last appearance at a shooting event.
It's the end of an era and Indian fans will have to find new reasons to watch the sport.
