Indian, Singaporean shooters on target
India and Singapore split the four gold medals at stake on the first day of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in a shooting competition at the CRPF Shooting Range in New Delhi.
Indians Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang claimed the gold medal in the men's 10m air rifle pairs. Bindra, the defending Olympic champion, and Narang combined for a games record of 1193 points to win the title.
They finished well ahead of silver medallists James Huckle and Kenny Parr of England, who settled for the silver medal with a 1174 total. Mohammed Asif Hossain Khan and Abdullah Hel Baki of Bangladesh took home the bronze medal with a 1173 final tally.
"It was no cakewalk for us. No competition can be taken lightly. Especially performances at home. There were tremendous expectations, huge pressure. It was not easy for me for sure," said Bindra, who claimed his third consecutive pairs gold medal in the
CWG.
Anisa Syyed and Rahi Sarnobat topped the women's 25m pistol pairs event to make it a double victory for the host nation.
The duo scored a games record 1156 points to beat the fancied Australian duo of Lalita Yauhleuskaya and Linda Ryan.
The Australians, who set the previous record of 1150 at the 2002 Manchester CWG, settled for the silver medal with 1146. Julia Lyndall and Gorgs Geikie of England pocketed the bronze medal with a 1122 output.
"We knew we would win the gold in half precision. Both of us have very good timing," Syyed said.
India chief coach Sunny Thomas was satisfied with the performance of his wards but admitted that duplicating their 26-medal haul four years ago in Melbourne will be a tall order.
"It will be difficult. The focus is on performance, the medals will automatically follow," he said.
Sharing the spotlight with the Indians on Day 1 were the Singaporeans.
Lim Swee Hon and Gai Bin won Singapore's first gold medal of the games by ruling the men's 50m pistol pairs event. They combined for 1094 points to win the title.
India's Deepak Sharma and Omkar Singh finished second with 1087 points while Trinidad and Tobago's Rhodney Richard Allen and Roger Peter Daniel placed third with a 1081 tally.
Aqilah Sudhir and Jasmine Ser upset favourites India in the women's 50m rifle three positions pairs event. The Singaporean duo scored 1149 points to stun Tejaswini Sawant and Lajjakumari Gauswami, who finished second with 1143 points. Scotland's Kay Copland
and Jen McIntosh placed third with 1142 points.
The shooting competition will resume today with medals at stake in the men's double trap pairs, men's 50m pistol singles, men's 10m air rifle singles and women's 25m pistol singles.
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