Narang, a bronze medalist in the London Games four years ago in men's 10m air rifle, ended up even behind Chain Singh, who was 23rd, in the 33rd spot out of 44 shooters with a three-phase tally of 1162 while Chain accumulated 1169.
Chain, who looked very much in the running for a slot in the finals after the first two phases, shot 391 out of 400 in kneeling, a superb 398 with three perfect 100s in prone and 380 in standing to get knocked out of the competition.
(REOPENS FGN27)
Chain indicated that Indian shooters were found wanting in mental toughness.
"I think shooting is a brutal sport, and when it comes on that particular aspect, we have not been able to do well. It was close and I think we need to ask ourselves mentally whether we did well enough or not. We must concentrate on getting better, the talent is there but we just need to think how we can get over line," he said.