Olympics: Perfection not good enough for Inam

Pakistani shooter out of the Olympics, finishes 28th out of 36 in skeet event.

KARACHI: Pakistan shooter Khurram Inam finished with a perfect final round but a poor show earlier saw the three-time Olympian failing to qualify for the skeet event final at the Royal Artillery Barracks.

Inam, who scored 25 in the fifth and final round at the end of the two-day qualification period, finished with an overall score of 112 to end 28th out of 36 contestants. Resuming the day behind the top-placed shooters, the Pakistani veteran had a poor fourth round, missing five birds and had to be content with a 20. However, he bounced back and showed his mettle in the final round to salvage some pride before bowing out of the competition.

“I am not happy with my overall performance,” Inam told The Express Tribune from London. “Although the conditions were difficult, I could have still achieved a lot here. I made some errors that cost me a higher position. I could have ended with a better place if I had more rounds like the final one. My third round [23-25] was going good but I missed the birds in the end.”

Vincent takes gold

Meanwhile, America’s Vincent Hancock retained his crown after a flawless display of shooting in the final.

Earlier, Vincent, the world champion, surpassed his own Olympics record finishing 123-125 to finish top in the preliminary round. The army officer’s previous best of 121-125 came at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 1^st, 2012.