The 22-year-old’s name was missing from the 11-member team announced by the NRAI on Sunday.
Gujarat’s shooting star Lajja Gauswami’s dream of making it to the London Olympics 2012 came down crashing after she failed to make the final cut.
The 22-year-old’s name was missing from the 11-member team announced by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) on Sunday.
Despite exhibiting prolific form during 2011, Lajja failed to lift her game during the trials in 50m 3-position rifle competition. “She couldn’t hit the bull’s eye when it mattered. She must have been off-target. After having a good season last year, she wasn’t able to click. We were very much hopeful,” said Tilak Gauswami, father of the ace shooter.
Lajja’s performance in the national shooting championship held in Pune in November 2011, where she bagged gold in the women’s 50-m prone category, with a score of 590, finishing ahead of Ruby Garg and Elizabeth Susan Koshy, had raised hopes. She also had a bronze to her name from the women’s 50-m 3 position rifle event at the same venue.
“We were expecting Lajja to do well in Asian Championships, held in Doha recently. But, her performance was below par (couldn’t get minimum qualifying score). Moreover, our women were not able to secure quota berth,” Narendra Oza of Gujarat Shooting Association said. At Doha she finished 14th in the 50-m rifle 3-position and 26th in 50-m rifle prone event, which crushed her dream.
It is to be recalled, Gauswami had won silver in pairs 50-m rifle 3 position at the Commonwealth Games 2010. Tejaswini and Gauswami totalled an impressive 1,143 in prone, standing and kneeling stage, but still finished six points behind gold-medallist Aqilah Sudhir and Xiang Wei Jasmine Ser of Singapore, who totalled 1,149. Scotland’s Kay Copland and Jen Mcintosh (1,142) settled for the bronze medal.
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