Commonwealth Games Shooting: Gagan Narang captures gold, Abhinav Bindra wins silver
Third ranked shooter Gagan Narang form India captured gold in the 10 meters air rifle individual competition at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi on Wednesday whereas countrymen Abhinav Bindra has won silver at the Karni Singh Shooting Range.
Earlier, Gagan shot an ideal 600 to level his world record and successfully qualified for the finals of 10m air rifle individual competition along with his countrymen and Olympic Games winner Abhinav Bindra.
The Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi was abuzz with Indian shooters raging a heated battle with the rest of the teams. Gagan took some time to warm up but once he set his tempo, there was no stopping the Indian.
Abhinav on the other hand, was also composed and calm as he ended at second spot with 595 points on Wednesday. The gold medallist from India had a similar score on Tuesday when he paired up with Gagan to grab the pairs gold in the same competition, setting
a CWG record.
India’s shooting coach Sunny Thomas commented on Wednesday that Gagan tackled the pressure situation quite well on Wednesday and made good use of his experience just at the time when it was needed the most.
He added, "I just cannot predict this one. Both are experienced shooters who know how to deal with the pressure and perform on the big stage. Today Gagan handled the pressure well but tomorrow I frankly do not know.”
It was the very first occasion that both shooters were contesting in the same contest after the Olympic Games. Abhinav set history by winning a gold whereas Narang saw his dreams evaporate as he dropped a position to settle for a bronze in the final by a
whisker.
Despite the poor performances, Narang commented on Tuesday that there is no such competition between the two of them. However, there is no doubt about the fact that both are fierce competitors who hate to fall down and their outcomes in the last four years
are proof of that as well. Although, Narang was in good form, Abhinav was aware of coming out strongly on the big day.
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