Doha, Dec 07: Gagan Narang produced a spectacular
performance in the final round to pip Turkmenistan`s Igor
Pirekeev and clinch the men`s 50m rifle three position
shooting bronze at the Asian games here today.
Pirekeev was tied with China`s Lei Zhang for the second
spot on 1165 points, three ahead of Narang (1162), at the end
of preliminary rounds.
But the Indian showed nerves of steel to finish his
finals round with a 99.9 for his second bronze in the event
while Pirekeev melted under pressure to score 96. Narang`s
first bronze came in 10 m air rifle team event.
In fact, Narang consistently hit the bull`s eye for a
series of 9.3, 10.5, 9.8, 10.4, 9.3, 10.1, 9.4, 10.7 and 10.6.
In comparison, Pirekeev was patchy with shots of 8.2,
10.1, 10.0, 10.2, 10.1, 10.1, 8.0, 10.5, 10.1 and 8.7.
The gold and silver both went to China.
Fu Zhang was streets ahead of the competition with 1170
after the preliminaries and although his form dipped in the
final where he shot 98, his early lead ensured him the top
place in the podium.
Lei Zhang, unlike Pirekeev, was less threatened by
Narang`s late charge to fire 101.8 in the final and walked
away with the silver.
India also claimed the team bronze while China and
Kazakhstan bagged the gold and silver respectively.
Narang`s 1162 in the preliminaries combined with Sanjeev
Rajput`s 1154 and Imran Hasan Khan`s 1140 ensured India`s 12th
medal from the shooting ranges.
The Chinese tallied 3494 and the Kazaks 3457 for the top
team honours, awarded based on preliminary scores.
Bureau Report
