Rio 2016: Mairaj Ahmad Khan finishes 10th on Day 1 of skeet qualifiers

India's skeet shooter Mairaj Ahmad Khan struggled on the opening day of the men's skeet qualifying event as he finished at lowly 10th place at the Rio Olympics here at the Olympic Shooting Centre on Friday.

The 40-year-old started off well and gave his best in the second set as well, but ended up missing two shots in the final set to fall down from third to 10th place. He registered a total score of 72 (24, 25, 23) from three sets.

Mairaj, whose qualification in the semi-finals seems to be tough at the moment, will now have to score at least 49 on the second to survive in the medal contention.

Mairaj clinched the Olympic quota in the Shotgun Skeet Event in Lonato in Italy in September last year, thus becoming the first Indian to qualify in this particular discipline.

In Men's 25m rapid fire pistol qualification, India's Gurpreet Singh also ended the day at 10th position with total points of 289.

Mairaj will now aim to book his place in the semi-finals while Gurpreet will eye for the final spot when they resume their respective events on Saturday.