Abhinav Bindra Misses Out on 10m Air Rifle Final at Shooting World Cup

The Indian shooting squad began its campaign in the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup at Fort Benning, USA. In all, nine Indian shooters were in fray on Day One of competition.

Abhinav Bindra, India's only individual Olympic gold medallist, led the charge in the 10m Air Rifle event and finished a competitive 15th in the qualification round for the finals.

Bindra finished with a score of 624.6. It was an improvement for Bindra from his 46th place finish at South Korean city of Changwon, where he had scored 619.8. Bindra's team-mates in the 10m Air Rifle, Sanjeev Rajput and Olympic bronze medallist Gagan Narang finished 25th and 26th respectively with scores of 623 and 622.9. Milutin Stefanovic of Serbia won the gold in the event, with a final round score of 209.7.

In the men's 50m Pistol, all three Indian shooters -- Jitu Rai, Prakash Nanjappa and Om Prakash -- survived the elimination rounds and will shoot for a place in the finals on Friday. Nanjappa in particular was in superlative form, shooting a 566 to finish third in his elimination relay round.

In the women's 25m Pistol event, the Indian trio of Anisa Sayyed, Anu Raj Singh and Rahi Sarnobat also failed to make the final cut. Anisa finished 20th and the best among the three in qualification, finishing with a score of 577.

Anu Raj Singh finished a point and two positions below her while Rahi Sarnobat could only manage 29th spot with a final score of 575. India is aiming for Rio Olympic quota places, 24 of which are there for the taking at Fort Benning.