The Hindu : Imran Khan wins silver in Czech Republic

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 01, 2003

Sport

Sport - Shooting

Imran Khan wins silver in Czech Republic

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JUNE 30. Imran Hasan Khan won the silver in the air rifle event in the Meeting of Shooting Hopes international junior championship in Plzen, Czech Republic, on Sunday.

Imran shot a 591 in the preliminary series, and a 102.5 in the final to take the second position 1.3 points behind Alin George Moldoveanu of Romania.

After an impressive series of 99, 98, 99, 99, 97 and 99, Imran was second, as the Romanian had scored a 593. In the final, Moldoveanu could muster only a 101.8. Pierre-Edmund Piasecki of France was third with a 692.4, following a 590 in the qualifying series.

It was the only medal for the Indian juniors in the prestigious annual competition, but two others made it to the finals.

In women's air pistol, Shweta Chaudhry finished fifth, as she shot a below par 374, with rounds of 92, 93, 95, 94 and followed that with a 95.8 in the final for a 469.8. Shweta had missed a medal on the count back in the World Championship with a 382. Ruby Tomar and Annuraj Singh finished 27th and 28th with 358 and 356 respectively. The Indian team was seventh among eight teams in this event, a spot above the host.

Zsofia Csonka of Hungary took the gold with a 480.7 following a 380 in the preliminary phase. Agnieszka Korejwo of Poland and Sandra Hornung of Germany took the silver and bronze with 477.3 and 476.9 respectively. The German shot a 383 in the qualifying series, but only a 93.9 in the final.

The fare was a lot less impressive in the 25-metre sport pistol event, as Shweta Chaudhry shot a 551 to be 17th among 35 competitors. Annuraj Singh was 27th with a 533. Zsofia Csonka of Hungary took the gold with a 685.9 following an overwhelming 585 in the qualifying series. Sandra Hornung of Germany took the silver with a 680.3 and Karolina Bujakowska of Poland was third with a 670.5.

Zakir Khan made the final of the 50-metre freepistol event, and eventually finished fourth. He shot a 543, with rounds of 87, 91, 91, 87, 94 and 93. He had an impressive 92.3 in the final, the second best effort among the eight finalists, but missed a medal by 1.1 points.

Artur Czempas of Poland (644.0), Daniel Dusenka of the Czech Republic (637.3) and Rostislav Kostov of Bulgaria (636.4) took the first three spots. Kostov had a three-point lead over Zakir, but had a 90.4 in the final.

Toshinder Singh was the other Indian entry in the freepistol event, and finished 28th with a 518. He had rounds of 84, 87, 88, 93, 86 and 80.

In men's air pistol, Zakir Khan finished joint 10th with a 568. He had rounds of 96, 95, 96, 93, 94 and 94. He missed making the final by two points. Gurjeet Singh shot 91, 92, 95, 92, 94 and 95 for a 559 that put him joint 23rd among 46 shooters.

Martin Flury of Switzerland (678.1), Bartolomiej Nogiec of Poland (676.9) and Pascal Peter of Switzerland (675.0) took the first three positions, and had rounds of 580, 578 and 577 in the preliminary phase.

In the 25-metre standard pistol, Zakir Khan was 14th with a 556. He had rounds of 280 and 276 in the precision and duelling phase. Martin Flury and Patrick Scheuber of Switzerland took the gold and silver with 574 and 573 respectively, ahead of Petr Ladek of the Czech Republic who shot a 572.

In women's air rifle, the reigning world women's champion Katerina Kurkova of the Czech Republic walked away with the gold with a 398 followed by a 104.1 for a 502.1. Her compatriots Katerina Hrneckova and Adela Sykorova swept the silver and bronze with 495.9 and 493.6 respectively.

Meena Kumari was joint 12th with a 389, following rounds of 98, 96, 99 and 96. Chetanpreet Kaur was joint 17th with a 387, as she had rounds of 94, 96, 99 and 98 while Navdeep Kaur Dhillon was joint 38th in a field of 59 shooters, with a 383 with rounds of 94, 97, 95 and 97. Quite creditably the Indian team was fifth among 12 teams.

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