Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Gagan Narang, the London Olympics Bronze medallist in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle, reached his first final in a world event after the 2012 Games indicating that he is slowly coming back to his best in his pet event.
After being laid low by a neck injury, Narang finished fifth in the event at the ongoing ISSF World Cup (Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun) in Gabala, Azerbaijan. Having qualified for the eight-man final in eighth position, Narang improved three positions shooting a score of 144.5 in the final rounds. Cao Yifei of China won the gold with a final round score of 207.4, while Kim Sang Do (206.9) of Korea won the silver and Petar Gorsa (186.5) of Croatia bagged the bronze medal.
Former Olympic champion in the same event, Abhinav Bindra finished 14th in qualifying and failed to qualify for the finals. Both Bindra and Narang have however secured quota places for Rio 2016 and would not be eligible for any more quotas as a result.
The Indian men’s 50m Pistol shooting troika of Jitu Rai, Prakash Nanjappa and Omkar Singh looked in ominous form in their respective elimination rounds to comfortably make it to the qualification rounds slated for Tuesday.
Jitu, another shooter who has already secured his Rio quota, shot 558 to finish 5th in his round, while both Omkar and Prakash finished third in their elimination rounds shooting scores of 557 and 555, respectively.
In the women’s 25m Pistol event, however, the Indian trio of Annu Raj Singh, Anisa Sayyed and Rahi Sarnobat where placed lowly after the precision stage of the event.
Annu Raj lay in 20th position with a score of 288, while Anisa was in 49th position with a score of 285. Rahi Sarnobat ended her day in 57th position shooting a score of 284. They move to the Rapid fire stage of the event on Tuesday.
In the second medal event of the day, the 10m Air Rifle for women, all three Indian shooters failed to qualify for the eight-woman final. Pooja Ghatkar shot the best score among the three Indians, finishing with a 413.8 to stand 30th. Apurvi Chandela ended the day in 45th place, having shot 412.6 in qualifications while Ayonika Paul registered a score of 411.2 to lie 57th.
