After six rounds of the qualification process, both Indian shooters Apurvi Chandela and Elavenil Valarivan were eliminated on Saturday from the women’s 10 metre rifle event, after finishing 36th and 16th respectively.

Jeanette Hegg Duestad of Norway topped the list with 632.9 points, while the top eight qualified for the finals in the Tokyo Olympics.  

While Chandela finished her six rounds with 621.9 points, Valarivan amassed 626.5 and was 2 points short of the qualification spot. 

The news will come as a disappointment for the Indian contingent and the fans as after securing a gold medal in women’s 10m air rifle at the (ISSF) World Cup 2019, Chandela was expected to pose a strong fight. 

Making her Olympic debut, Valarivan finished 16th after shooting 626.5 over six series of 10 shots each.

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However, the Indians were off to a decent start and even as Chandela slipped after that, Valarivan tried to remain in the contest with a fine performance in the third series, including shooting a perfect 10.9.

In the third round, Valarivan scored a 106.0 keeping her chances to reach the qualification spot alive, however, with a 9.7 and 9.9 hit in the fifth and sixth round respectively, her chances went down drastically. 

However, the 21-year-old could not maintain the same form and a couple of 9s in the fifth and sixth series pushed her further down.

Chandela had finished 34th at the 2016 Rio Games.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s Heemoon Park finished second with 631.7. American challenger Mary Carolyn Tucker finished third with 631.4.

The final spot was filled by Anastasiia Galashina of Russia. The 10m Air Rifle Finals will take place at 7.45 am IST.