Going under the knife to treat an infection on his buttock weeks before the season-opening ISSF World Cup hampered Ravi Kumar's preparation as the Indian shooter "missed out on valuable training".
The 26-year-old Ravi finished a disappointing 14th with a total of 627 in the men's 10m air rifle event of the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup in the capital.
The reigning national champion in 10m air rifle and a World Cup bronze medallist, Kumar has impressed with his consistency since winning his first individual international medal, a bronze at the Asian Airgun Championships in 2017.
But things did not go his way at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range on Monday.
His personal coach Manoj Kumar, who also guides Ravi's compatriot Deepak Kumar, said it affected his preparation in the run-up to the tournament, which offers 16 quota places for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
"He had gone to Mumbai to participate in some competition. There he caught fever, for which he took an injection. It had adverse reaction and he developed an infection. The area had to be operated after that," Kumar said.
"This was in first week of January and he could not do things like yoga and other things which are part of the preparation process. It definitely had an impact on his preparation."