Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra came up with a 10.8 last shot to clinch the gold in the 10-metre air rifle event, 0.9 points ahead of Tino Mohaupt of Germany in the first of three competitions in the InterShoot shooting championship at the Hague in the Netherlands, on Thursday.
After leading the eight finalists with a 596 out of 600 in the qualification, following rounds of 100, 100, 99, 100, 98 and 99, Bindra shot an impressive 104.1 in the final.
Except for the second and ninth shots in the ten-shot final when he had 9s, Bindra had good 10s, ranging from 10.4 to the climactic10.8.
Mohaupt shot a 104.2 in the final, but had shot only a 595 in the qualification and thus had to be content with the silver.
Keeping up with the momentum and his good form, Bindra put himself in line for a second gold on Friday, as he led with a 595 out of 600, following rounds of 98, 100, 100, 100, 98 and 99. He was two points ahead of Peter Hellenbrand of the Netherlands, going into the final.
Meanwhile, world record holder Suma Shirur came up with the bronze in the women’s air rifle event on the opening day, with a total of 494.2. She shot a 394 in the qualification following rounds of 99, 98, 98 and 99 and a 100.2 in the final.
World championship finalist Avneet Kaur Sidhu finished fourth with a total of 490.3, after a 389 in the preliminary phase. She had rounds of 98, 98, 95 and 98.
The third Indian in the event, Pournima Zanane shot a 385 with rounds of 98, 95, 96 and 96 to take the 10th spot.
The results:
Men’s air rifle: 1. Abhinav Bindra 700.1 (596); 2. Tino Mohaupt (Ger) 699.2 (595); 3. Peter Hellenbrand (Ned) 696.5 (594).
Women’s air rifle: 1. Stine Andersen (Den) 497.9 (394); 2. Nina Koop (Ger) 496.0 (393); 3. Suma Shirur 494.2 (394); 4. Avneet Kaur Sidhu 490.3 (389); 10. Pournima Zanane 385.
