Disappointment was in store for Indian sports lovers on the first two days of the Rio Olympics. The country has fielded its largest ever contingent to the quadrennial Games with 118 athletes from 15 disciplines — shot putter Inderjeet Singh and 200m runner Dharambir Singh were excluded following positive dope tests — vying for medals.

The journey of a few Indian athletes — some of them strong medal contenders — came to a premature end. We take a look at India’s performance in Rio over the first two days of competition.

SHOOTING

The biggest shock came from the shooting ranges where seven shooters, including medal contenders Jitu Rai (10m air pistol), Apurvi Chandela, Ayonika Paul (10m air rifle) and Heena Sidhu (10m air pistol), failed to impress.

Jitu — the winner of multiple World Cup medals including a gold medal in Maribor in 2014 — made it to the final of the 10m air pistol with a score of 580, finishing sixth in the qualifying round. He, however, crumbled under pressure and finished eighth and last in the final.

Jitu, though, will compete in the 50m air pistol event, where he has won gold medals in the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games and also a silver medal in the World championship.