"That face after 9.5 was so heartbreaking" - Fans react to Arjun Babuta's 4th-place finish in Paris Olympics 2024
Shooting is a sport of finest margins and that was once again proved when Arjun Babuta bowed out from the men's 10m air rifle final today, July 29. Despite being in an advantageous position for most part of the game, his competitors leapfrogged him and the 25-year-old ended his campaign on the fourth spot, missing out on a podium finish narrowly.
This was Arjun Babuta's debut at the Summer Olympics and one to be remembered. He tried remaining composed post his defeat but it was clear from his face that he had higher expectations from himself. He ended with a point tally of 208.4, with his final shot of 9.5 falling 1.4 points short of a medal finish.
Fans on social media, however, showered praise on the shooter and hardly criticized since he gave his best at the Paris Olympics.
One user wrote on X:
"Well fought, Arjun Babuta! Missed out on the Bronze Medal by a whisker."
Another fan posted:
"Was just 0.1 pts behind from gold till 14-15 shot."
One account indulged in criticism for Babuta. The post read as follows:
"Heartbreak ...How one can score 9.5 in air rifle event... Disastrous shooting . It's not acceptable. After so much training, exposure, support . Gold medalist Chinese shooter consistently hit above 10.5."
One fan spoke about the nerves needed in shooting. The account wrote:
"Played well but couldn’t hold nerves in last five shots!"
Another account said:
"Hard luck champ, we know you are cooking something"
An account highlighted how Arjun Babuta's face looked after that one shot which ended his medal hopes. It said:
"That face after 9.5 was so heartbreaking !!"
However, despite Babuta being a medal hopeful for most part of the competition, extreme criticism was thrown at the shooter too. One fan said:
"Good for nothing, isse badhiya pehle hi Bahar ho jao."
Day 3 for India at Paris Olympics 2024
July 29 is a day of ups and downs for Team India. On one hand where Ramita Jindal and Arjun Babuta couldn't fetch a medal, Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh kept the hopes alive for a mixed team medal tomorrow (10m air pistol bronze medal game against South Korea).
Tanisha Crasto and Ashwini Ponnappa went down to Japan's Chiharu Shida and Nami Matsuyama 21-11, 21-12. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty's game against Germany's Mark Lamsfuss and Marvin Seidel was canceled due to the latter's withdrawal from the competition.
At the time of writing this article, the Indian hockey team is up against Argentina.