C’wealth Shooting C’ships: Gagan Narang strikes prone silver
India’s Olympic bronze medallist won the silver medal in the men’s 50m rifle prone.
Published : Nov 02, 2017 13:03 IST
Gagan Narang asserted his undisputed class even though he allowed the little known Aussie Dane Sampson to beat him to the men’s rifle prone gold in the Commonwealth Shooting Championship in Brisbane on Thursday.
Read: Pooja Ghatkar bags gold; cleansweep by men shooters The 34-year-old Narang, with a rich haul of medals at all levels, including the World Championship and the Olympics, squeezed his way past compatriot Swapnil Kusale for the silver medal, with his solid shooting at the business end of the competition. Dane Sampson, whose best performance was placing sixth in the World Cup in Delhi in February, rode on the big 10s in the climax to take the gold, 1.4 point ahead of Narang, even though a penultimate shot of 9.9 had possibly risen hopes in the Indian camp. The 31-year-old Aussie, who identifies himself as a furniture maker and personal fitness trainer, was unstoppable this day after he had qualified on top with 624.3, a record in the championship. The third Indian in the fray Sushil Ghalay had to be content with the tenth spot.
Bronze for Anuuraj Singh In women’s sports pistol, Olympian Annuraj Singh won the bronze medal behind the Aussies, Lalita Yauhleuskaya and Elena Galiabovitch. After a three way tie on 19 before the last four series, the two Aussies had pulled forward with one perfect round of five each, whereas Annuraj dropped out of the race with a two-point difference. Annuraj had qualified in the second place with 578, the same as Rahi, while Heena could muster only 571, the same as the eventual champion, the seasoned Lalita. Heena and Rahi did make the final, but finished fifth and sixth respectively. Heena lost out in the shoot off after pipping Rahi by a point. India has had a good run so far, winning three gold medals on the first two days. It will have a lot to look up to in the forthcoming events.