NAGOYA: Shooting at the elite level can be harsh.
One bad shot can make a world of difference. For India's Tilottama Sen, it cost her a medal in the ongoing Asian Games on Saturday.
In what was a tense affair in the women's 50m rifle 3 positions final, Tilottama, after a relatively modest start, had done very well to recover and be amongst contenders for medal including gold. Heading into the final few shots, she was in the top-three and that was within the realm of possibility.
However, given the fluctuating nature of the sport, she still had tough task in front of her as those below her continued to apply the pressure to make it a real fascinating battle. Vidarsa K Vinod, the other Indian in the finalists, had also survived a few battles before eventually being eliminated as fifth-ranked shooter.
Tilottama was third at the time. In medal position but far from secure as the fourth-placed shooter was just behind her -- the Indian had a slender advantage of .3 (not a big gap but in shooting terms, a handy lead).
In the next shot, all Tilottama needed was to best the fourth-placed Kim Jieun of South Korea. Kim was the first to pull the trigger, returning with a 10.5 -- a huge return under the circumstances. Tilottama needed 10.3 or higher. It was a huge ask for the teenager. All she could manage was 9.4 -- disastrous given what was at stake. For large parts of the final until that point, she had been fairly calm and had maintained a good score, even pulling off an impressive hit 10.7 in the early stages of standing series.
The outcome is a tough lesson for both the Indians, who had earlier secured the silver medal in the team category. One must take into consideration that this is their first-ever Asian Games. In fact, Vidarsa, who is from Keralam, has barely had much experience at the elite level. She started representing the country just last year and has been more prominent this season.
Tilottama's miss was South Korea's gain as Kim went on to pocket the bronze medal.
Jiayu Han, who had topped the qualification with a record mark, once again finished as a topper with a tally of 589 -- yet another Asian Record. Jiayu was hovering at the bottom-three position for large parts of the final before making a brilliant recovery in the standing series. She edged compatriot Liyuan Zhang, who also finished with an impressive 558.8 to bag silver.
This latest result is a massive setback for Indian shooting as the trend of near-misses continued.
India have won 11 medals so far in shooting but only three have arrived in individual events. The shooters had opened their gold account by winning the 10m air pistol mixed team event on Friday.
Manu Bhaker (women's 10m air pistol), Anantjeet Singh Naruka (men's skeet), Raiza Dhillon (women's skeet) are some of the shooters who had narrowly missed out on a medal.