导出博客文章Rio -- Barely a minute into this interview, Jitu Rai starts to apologise.
Cheap Toronto Raptors Jerseys .It has not been long since he finished 12th and missed out on a spot in the eight-man final of the 50m Air Pistol. He is agonising from within, in desperate search for a way to banish the pain from his system. If it takes an apology via a complete stranger to people on the outside with little understanding of his craft, dedication and drive, then so be it.On a miserable, dreary Rio day spitting with rain, Jitu begins the 50m Air Pistol as a strong contender for a medal. Forty-one men start the competition, but 28-year old Jitu is among the most pedigreed in the field with a CV littered with medals at multi-discipline games and World level competitions.Unlike rifle shooting, there are no decimal points in the qualifying round of the 50m pistol. Each competitor gets six series of 10 shots to complete in 90 minutes. Each shot is worth a maximum of 10 points. The world record of 583 is held by South Korean Jin Jongoh. He would only shoot 567 on the day but it would be enough for him to qualify at the top of the leaderboard for the final. Not much later, he won gold.Jitu begins with a 92. He ups the ante in series two with a 95. His next three scores are 90, 94 and 95. He is in beast mode now, charging towards the final. As the final series starts with 11 minutes still left on the clock, Jitu is seemingly unstoppable.He is up to fourth. And then, with quite a few of the other leading contenders having finished their series already and ensured qualification, the elements take a turn for the worse. Conditions get trickier as the winds pick up and those still on the range are confronted with a stern challenge. Five shots remain in the qualifier for Jitu and it is here that it all goes pear shaped.His sixth shot is an 8. Seventh -8. Eighth- 9. Ninth- 7. This is the killer blow. The first five shots in the series have delivered 46 points. The next four just 32. He finishes with a perfect 10 but the damage is done. The series ends at 88, by far his worst of the day.It leaves him with a cumulative score of 554. Three men qualify for the final on 556. The two eights wreck the ship, the seven sinks it. And yet, Jitu tells me later that when it left the gun, the seven felt like the perfect shot. Perhaps on its way to the target, the pellet was caught by a gust of wind and veered off course? Perhaps Jitu misjudged its path? Perhaps is often the difference between glory and despair.Outcomes such as this are perfect fodder for observers around the place to indulge in a bit of pop-psychology. So why does a guy who arrived at this competition in red-hot form that included a gold in the same category at a World Cup in Bangkok earlier in the year, falter at this point?Surely the stage played its part? Did the thought that he was at an Olympics muddle his mind and tense up his fingers? Was this a classic Olympic meltdown with the finish line in plain sight? I put some of that theorising to Jitu and he rubbishes it with an endearingly simple explanation.I was not under any pressure at all, he insists. Olympics is just a name. I have won medals at World Cups, Commonwealth & Asian games. The target is the same, the pistol is the same and the ammunition is the same, so why shall I think of the Olympics as anything bigger than any other competition?The athletes I compete against are the same so why should I be scared? There was no pressure, I was here to try and give my best performance ever and win a medal for the country. However, I could not accomplish that.The history books will record that Jitu Rai left his first Olympics empty handed. Yes, a medal remained elusive, but in the both events Jitu participated in he left an indelible mark. In the 10m Air Pistol earlier in the week, he recovered from a stumbly start to book a place in the final. He was the first of the eight men to be eliminated then but he was in an elite group of shooters contending for a medal. On Wednesday, he tripped up with a finals spot there for the taking. He may have faltered but he definitely did not fail.A lot of people were hoping that I will deliver a medal, but I couldnt and that makes me want to apologise, he said.I will continue to improve, there are other events coming up like World Cup finals and I will surely produce better results. This has been an invaluable experience and I am sure I can continue to go forward.There is no reason to say sorry, Jitu. Not one.
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Cheap Atlanta Hawks Jerseys . Arsenal failed to take full advantage of its main rivals stumbles on Saturday as substitute Gerard Deulofeu levelled with a hard shot from a tight angle in the 84th minute to give Everton a deserved point. Ahead of a crucial fortnight that will see them play against Napoli in the Champions League, Manchester City and Chelsea, Arsenal leads by five points ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea.
http://www.cheapnbaoutletjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-boston-celtics-jerseys .500 on the season. The Jets are now 0-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs. The game started the same way the Vancouver game started the night before, with the Jets taking the first two penalties of the game and killing off the first, but the Oilers getting on the board first, scoring on the second man-advantage. Minnesota will look to solidify its spot atop the WNBA standings when the Lynx travel to San Antonio on Sunday to take on the Stars, who can only hope to play a spoiler role as the season winds down.The Lynx (25-4) have won four in a row and nine of 10 games. They hold a 1 1/2 game lead over the Los Angeles Sparks for the best record and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.San Antonio is at the other end of the WNBA spectrum. The Stars have the worst record in the league at 6-24 and have lost five in a row.The Lynx are coming off an epic battle against the Sparks on Tuesday. Minnesota went on a 13-1 run to take control at the end of the first period and they held on for a three-point victory.Sylvia Fowles scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Maya Moore added 20 points.The Stars will have to figure out how to stop MVP candidate Moore, who averages 19.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game.And if Moore falters,, Fowles is more than capable of stepping up to wreak havoc on the Stars.
Cheap Portland Trail Blazers Jerseys. Fowles scores at a 13.7 clip per game and leads the Lynx with 8.8 rebounds per game.Moriah Jefferson paces the Stars, who have struggled since leading scorer Kayla McBride was lost for the season in July. Jefferson scored a game-high 27 points in a loss on Friday to Dallas.The Lynx have a distinct advantage in all aspects of the game. Minnesota averages 85.4 points and 35.9 rebounds per game. The Stars put up less than 73 points per game and give up nearly 81 points per game.In two meetings earlier this year, the Lynx defeated the Stars by 23 on July 2 and by 24 on July 12. In the first game, Natasha Howard led a balanced attack with 21 points. Moore was held to 14 points in that game.In the second game, Moore scored 24.
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