London Olympics: Shooter Vijay Kumar fails to qualify in 10m Air Pistol

London: Shooter Vijay Kumar had a stuttering start to his Olympic campaign as he failed to qualify for the men`s 10m Air Pistol finals after finishing a lowly 31st here on Saturday.

Vijay tallied 570 after shooting a sequence of 94, 95, 94, 97, 97, 93 at the Royal Artillery Barracks where 44 shooters competed for the top eight places. He will now have to wait till August 2, when he competes in his pet event -- 25m Rapid Fire Pistol, to see if he can win a medal at the Games. The 27-year-old Army shooter`s performance was a far cry from his exploits in the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games and the Guangzhou Asian Games where he won three gold, one silver and two bronze medals. South Korea`s Jin Jongoh topped the qualifier with a total score of 588 while China`s Pang Wei came second after scoring 586. Servia`s Zlatic Andrija and Carrera Pablo of Spain were tied for the third place after both shot 585. PTI