Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore's fears came true when his damaged gun cost him a place in final of the double trap event at World Shooting Championships in Zagreb, Croatia, on Monday.
Rathore, whose Perazzi gun was lost in transit and found last month, shot 139 and finished eighth after the qualifying rounds. Agonisingly, his tally was one point behind the six finalists' score.
The Indian was leading the field in the first half after carding 47 and 48 but his subsequent poor score of 44 left him just one point short of making the grade and ended up eighth.
"On a normal day it is a decent score. But I could not cope well in the third round," Rathore said.
The Army marksman, who had won the bronze medal in last edition at Cyprus in 2003, said his gun was damaged in the three weeks when it was misplaced by the airlines on his way back from Cairo.
"It was difficult to catch my form again as well after the change (made) in the gun," he said.
"I used my old gun but had to change its barrel, which was damaged as its case was broken when I retrieved it three weeks after it was misplaced.
"Although I had a training stint in Italy, I wasn't fully settled with the gun and found it difficult to cope and that made the difference," he said.
Rathore had used the same gun to clinch a quota place for the Beijing Games with a gold in the Cairo World Cup before the weapon was lost on his way back to India.
The airlines staff subsequently retrieved it after a three-week gap.
"But I am not disappointed. I will now plan out for my next big event of Asian Games at Doha. There are still few months for that and I will try to get in shape with the gun for it," he said.
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