Three-time world champion and the reigning Asian Games champion Abdullah Alrashidi of Kuwait won the skeet gold with a three-point margin in the Asian shotgun championship at the New Moti Bagh Gun Club here on Tuesday.
While defending champion Man Singh missed out on a medal, after bravely jumping into contention for the silver in the tie-shoot with two others, national champion Allan Daniel Peoples lit up the evening as he captured the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh memorial Indian Open Grand Prix gold with a flawless round of 25 in the final, in fading light.
The 49-year-old Alrashidi was thrilled to win his sixth Asian championship title, and wind up the season with a dominant show for the last time in the old format.
He led the field with 120 out of 125, following rounds of 23, 24, 24, 25 and 24. He shot 24 in the final, as he missed the clay from the lower house in a double combination on the fourth station.
Man Singh, who had shot an Asian record 149 in the last edition in Kuala Lumpur, had to go through the tie-shoot to make the final following a total of 117, and had to endure another tie-shoot for the medals.
However, he missed the sixth bird, leaving Saif Bin Futais of the UAE and Zaid Almutairi of Kuwait to fight for the two medals.
In the fifth and final round earlier in qualification, Man Singh missed three of the last seven birds to lose his grip over the contest.
Perfect final
Peoples compensated for all the disappointment of the Indian camp, as he followed up his 118 with a perfect final.
With the chief guest, the Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda being requested to present the medals for the Asian championship, the Grand Prix final got delayed quite a bit.
Alrashidi, who was unsuccessful with his request to the officials to start the Grand Prix final without the formal introduction of the shooters, in a bid to save some light for the contest, went without a medal after having tied with three others for the silver and bronze medals.
Valerio Luchini who had shot 120 like Alrashidi in qualification, managed to hang on for the bronze, while Saif Bin Futais who too had to go through the shoot-off four times like Man Singh, grabbed his second silver.
The victory in the Grand Prix was worth $6,000 for Peoples, who ironically could not make the Indian team, and was shooting the MQS section in the Asian championship.
The silver and bronze medallists won $4,000 and $3,000 respectively.
The results: Skeet: 1. Abdullah Alrashidi (Kuw) 144 (120); 2. Saif Bin Futais (UAE) 141 (12) 117; 3. Zaid Almutairi (Kuw) 141 (11) 118; 4. Man Singh 141 (5) 117; 8. Smit Singh 116; 12. Mairaj Ahmad Khan 112. MQS: Allan Daniel Peoples 118; Parampal Singh Guron 115.
Team: 1. Kuwait 351; 2. India 345; 3. Kazakhstan 343.
Grand Prix: 1. Allan Daniel Peoples 143 (118); 2. Saif Bin Futais (UAE) 142 (2) 117; 3. Valerio Luchini (Ita) 142 (1) 120.
