New Delhi, June 04: Ace shooter Abhinav Bindra's bid to qualify for the 2004 Athens Olympics suffered a setback when he finished 11th in the men's 10 m air rifle event in the ISSF World Cup in Zagreb, Croatia, today. Bindra shot 593 (98, 99, 98, 99, 100, 99) in the six rounds, improving upon his score of 590 which saw him end in 20th place in the World Cup in Fort Benning, USA, last month.

But that was not enough to take him to the final for which the top eight qualified, national coach Sunny Thomas said.

Bindra will now have to pin his hopes on the remaining legs of the World Cup or the Asian Shooting Championships to grab a quota place for Athens 2004.

Hungary's P Sidi, who shot 596 in the preliminary round and 104.2 in the final, won the gold medal.

The other Indian in fray, Gagan Narang, a promising junior who made it to the senior team, returned an impressive score of 592.

The World Cup, which began on June 2, will go till June 9.

Bureau Report