Paralympics: Two poor shots halt Unhalkar's medal charge; finishes fourth
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9.9 followed by a 9.5 put paid to Indian shooter Swaroop Mahavir Unhalkar's hopes as he slipped from the top position to fourth in the R1 Men's 10m Air Rifle - SH1 final here on Monday.
Unhalkar had qualified seventh for the final but had jumped to the top spot after shooting 102.1 in the first 10 shots in the final. He produced six consecutive scores of 10 or more as he led the standings with the second elimination round well underway.
But disaster struck in the fourth series of two shots as he could manage only 9.9 and 9.5 and slumped out of medal contention. At the fourth position as Slovakia's Radoslav Malenovsky was eliminated with a total of 181.4, Unhalkar had two more chances of making it back into the medal contention.
Korea Park Jin-ho, the eventual bronze medallist, shot 10.7 and 10.2 and Unhalkar, needed scores of around 10.7 on his 17th and 18th shots. However, he could manage only 10.1 and 10.2 and thus ended with a total score of 203.9 and had to settle for the fourth position.
The Korean advanced to the medal round with a score of 205.0. He eventually finished with 224.5 to claim the bronze medal.
China's Dong Chao, the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games gold medallist, retained the gold medal again with a score of 246.4, a Paralympic Games record, while Ukraine's Andril Doroshenko took silver with a score of 245.1.
Unhalkar, the 34-year-old from Kolhapur in Maharashtra, currently trains at Olympic bronze medallist Gagan Narang's Gun for Glory Academy. He is a government employee and is stationed in Pune.
✔️ Paralympics: Two poor shots halt Unhalkar's medal charge; finishes fourth
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