Olympics-Shooting-Korean great Jin ‘devastated’ after missing 10m pistol final

FILE PHOTO: South Korea’s Jin Jong-oh covers his face after winning the men’s 10m air pistol final at the London 2012 Olympic Games in the Royal Artillery Barracks at Woolwich in London July 28, 2012. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

By Mari Saito

TOKYO (Reuters) -Shooting great Jin Jong-oh’s quest for a record-extending fifth individual Olympic gold fell short on Saturday as the South Korean failed to qualify for the final of the men’s 10 metre pistol event at the Tokyo Games.

The 41-year-old shot a series of 95, 96, 98, 93, 97 and 97 to aggregate 576 and finish 15th at the Asaka Shooting Range.

His team mates watched anxiously as Jin, who won the 10 metre pistol title in the 2012 London Games, did not manage to break into the top eight advancing to the final.

“What can I say? I am just devastated,” the shooter, who has four gold and two silver medals from the last four Olympics, was quoted as saying by the Kyodo news agency.

“I don’t know what else to say. I have to regroup and prepare for the mixed event next.”

Jin had etched his name in the record books at Rio when he won the 50 metre pistol event to become the first shooter in Olympic history to win a specific event at three consecutive Games. That event is not part of the Tokyo programme.

(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; Editing by Stephen Coates and Karishma Singh)