The Hindu : Manavjit Singh grabs bronze

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 22, 2003

Sport

Sport - Shooting

Manavjit Singh grabs bronze

By Kamesh Srinivasan

Ian Peel of Britain (right) who won the gold being congratulated by the bronze medallist, Manavjit Singh Sandhu of India, in the trap finals of the Shotgun World Cup at Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range in Tughlakabad on Friday. — Photo: S. Subramanium

NEW DELHI MARCH 21. Olympic silver medallist Ian Peel was in irrepressible form as he captured the Olympic quota with the trap gold, but Manavjit Singh Sandhu warmed the hearts of the Indians fans in grabbing the bronze, in the shotgun World Cup that concluded at the Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Friday.

The 45-year-old Peel had the quota in his pocket, after 21 shots in the final, the lead he needed to keep Manav out of the way, as the eventual silver medallist Adam Vella of Australia had confirmed his quota place with a gold in the World Cup in Perth.

In fact, it was the fourth medal in two World Cups spanning just over a fortnight for Vella, who had won the silver in double trap both here and in Perth. The Aussie was one point behind Peel before the final, and dropped the fifth bird in losing his hunt for the gold, as the Britain shot a flawless final.

Having led overnight with Manavjit and Vella on 72, Peel continued his good form on a slightly less windy day with rounds of 25 and 24.

``Having won an Olympic medal, I knew I would qualify. I shot very well here. The fact that Vella had the quota already made it easy for me'', said Peel, who had won a gold in the pre-Olympic World Cup in Sydney. The European champion had also won two silver apart from a bronze in other World Cups.

Manavjit shot below par in the morning with rounds of 23, but he made the final on 118, tied with Petri Nummela of Finland and Alberto Hernandez of Spain. Vadimir Slamka of Slovakia was one point ahead at 119.

However, Manav was better in the climax, after missing the ninth and 14th birds. The Spaniard missed three, the Finn missed four and the Slovak missed five, making it easy for Manav in the end.

``I am very happy with medal. The quota place was beyond me as Peel had taken a good three-point lead. He had to shoot badly for me to catch up, but he was in superb form. I heard the others miss a lot and knew that I had a good chance for a medal, if I held myself together'', said the 26-year-old Manavjit who had captured the fifth position in the World Cup held here in 2000.

``That effort will not stand comparison to this one, as all the best shooters were here. To win a medal in such a strong field gives me a lot of confidence for the future competitions'', said Manavjit, whose effort was commendable in a 77-strong field.

It was some sight as Manavjit was lifted on his shoulder by the reigning World Champion Khaled Al Mudhaf of Kuwait with support from Zorawar Singh.

The seasoned Mansher Singh, who had beaten Ian Peel to the gold in the Commonwealth Championship in 2001 in Bisley, apart from the bronze here in the World Cup in 1997 missed making the final by two points. He had conceded too much of a lead overnight and thus his recovery with rounds of 24 and 25 this morning proved inadequate. Mansher finished joint 12th with a 116.

The Asian Clay gold medallist and the Commonwealth Games bronze winner, Anwer Sultan was unable to lift his fortunes, as he had rounds of 22 and 24. He had to be content with the joint 22nd slot.

Yet, the Indian team had the honour of winning the team gold on a countback, after being tied at 348 with Italy.

Shooting for the MQS, Syed Faisal and Ranajit Nobis shot 104 and 99 respectively.

The 19-year-old Birendeep Sodhi walked away with the junior gold with a 114, with an 18-point margin over compatriot Ankur Singh in a three-member race.

``I missed four last birds. I am confident of doing better in the Asian Clay championship next week'', said Birendeep, the St. Stephen's College student.

There was a lot of excitement in the high-scoring skeet event. The gold went to Eleuteri Cristian of Italy as he shot a perfect 25 in the final, following rounds of 24, 25, 25, 25 and 24 in the preliminary phase.

The Olympic quota, however, went to George Achilleos of Cyprus who won the tie-shoot for the silver 10-9 against Tino Wenzel of Germany. Italy had already won two skeet quota places, and thus was not eligible to gain a third in the same event.

The Indian shooters came up with a better fare, with Amardeep Singh Rai firing a 24 and 25 this morning. But, he had to be content finishing joint 36th with a 117. Naveen Jindal shot 25 and 21 to end up with 110 and a joint 51st position along with Rao Inerjit Singh who had rounds of 20 and 24 this day.

Shooting for the MQS, Baba P. S. Bedi wound up with a 111 while Rajpal Singh Kochhar shot a 110.

Among the juniors, Alok Singh took the third place at 106, behind Kenneth Vail of the US (119) and Yuriy Sheptytsky of Ukraine (116). Karan Badhwar finished fifth with a 95.

For the hundreds of spectators who packed the arena with their colourful presence, including the Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr. Digvijay Singh, it was a world class fare indeed.

The results :

Trap : 1. Ian Peel (GBR) (121, 25) 146; 2. Adam Vela (Aus) (120, 24) 144; 3. Manavjit Singh Sandhu (118, 23) 141; 4. Alberto Hernandez (Esp) (118, 22) 140; 5. Petri Numela (Fin) (118, 21) 139 (2); 6. Vladimir Slamka (Svk) (119, 20) 139 (1); 12T. Mansher Singh 116; 22T. Anwer Sultan 114.

Team : 1. India (Manavjit Singh 118, MansherSingh 116, Anwer Sultan 114) 348; 2. Italy (Adriano Lamera 117, Rodolfo Visano 117, Mrco Venturini 114) 348; 3. Australia (Adam Vella 120, Thomas Turner 115, Russell Mark 112) 347.

Juniors: 1. Birendeep Sodhi 114; 2. Ankur Singh 96; 3. Victor Khassyanov (Kaz) 93.

Skeet: 1. Cristian Elevteri (Ita) (123, 25) 148; 2. George Achilleos (Cyp) (124, 23) 147 (10); 3. Tino Wenzel (Ger) (123, 24) 147 (9); 4. Drew Harvey (GBR) (124, 23) 147 (3); 5. Antonis Nocolaides (Cyp) (122, 23) 145; 6. Abdulah Almutairi (Kuw) (122, 21) 143; 36T. Amardeep Singh Rai 117; 51T. Naveen Jindal 110 and Rao Inderjit Singh 110.

Team: 1. Britain (Clive Bramley 120, John Davison 122, Drew Harvey 124) 366; 2. Cyprus (Kyriacos Christoforou 120, George Achilleos 124, Antonis Nicolaides 122) 366; 3. Czech Republic (Leds Hlavacek 121, Jan Sychra 120, Bronislav Bechynsky 121) 362; 12. India (Naveen Jindal 110, Rao Inderjit Singh 110, Amardeep Singh Rai 117) 337.

Juniors: 1. Kenneth Vail (US) 119; 2. Yuriy Sheptytsky (Ukr) 116; 3. Alok Singh 106; 4. Yaroslav Golchenko (Kaz) 99; 5. Karan Badhwar 95.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport