Bindra wins back-to-back gold medals in Netherlands

Former World and Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra put his preparations for the Rio Games on the rails by winning back to back gold medals in the 39th InterShoot international shooting competition at The Hague in the Netherlands.

Abhinav Bindra shot 205.6 on Saturday, in beating Peter Hellenbrand of Holland by 0.8 points.

Former World and Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra put his preparations for the Rio Games on the rails by winning back to back gold medals in the 39th InterShoot international shooting competition at The Hague in the Netherlands.

The 32-year-old Bindra, getting ready for his fifth Olympics, shot 205.6 on Saturday, in beating Peter Hellenbrand of Holland by 0.8 points, despite shooting an uncharacteristic string of 9.4 and 9.5 on the last two shots. He had beaten compatriot Rakesh Manpat, the former national champion in 50-metre prone event, by 1.2 point for the first gold on Thursday, in the three-match series.

“I am recovering from flu. I want to pace myself for the season. So, the shooting is not optimum, as of now”, said Bindra, when contacted in Holland.

There were other Indian shooters as well, including World Cup Final silver medallist Apurvi Chandela, who had competed in a similar event in Munich last week, as part of her preparation for Rio.

Apurvi placed sixth in women’s air rifle. She had a qualification score of 418.2, which compared well with her efforts of 420.9 and 418.0, in Germany.

However, Shriyanka Sadangi asserted the Indian ability better by winning the bronze in the Dutch competition, after having topped the qualifiers with a score of 418.9.

In junior air rifle, Pratik Borse also won back to back gold medals in style, topping both the times in qualification as well. In junior women’s section, Dilreen Gill missed a medal on the shoot-off after being tied on 164.6 with Martina Kaiser of Switzerland.

Results

10m air rifle (Men): Match-2: 1. Abhinav Bindra 205.6 (623.9); 2. Peter Hellenbrand (Ned) 204.8 (622.9); 3. Jack Bale 183.7 (619.4); 5. Rakesh Manpat 142.7 (624.1); 13. Prithviraj Mane 609.9; 16. Amit Raut 606.6.

Match-1: 1. Abhinav Bindra 205.5 (624.2); 2. Rakesh Manpat 204.3 (620.3); 3. Thijs Theunissen (Ned) 183.5 (617.9); 11. Prithviraj Mane 615.2; 21. Amit Raut 604.1.

Women: 1. Malin Westerheim (Nor) 209.7 (415.5); 2. Pea Smeets (Ned) 207.4 (413.0); 3. Shriyanka Sadangi 186.1 (418.9); 6. Apurvi Chandela 122.9 (418.2).