Aaron Heading of England came up with a breathtaking performance as he shot 147 to beat two-time Olympic champion and three-time World champion Michael Diamond by one point in the trap final at the Karni Singh Range in Tughlakabad on Sunday.
On a day when World champion Manavjit Sandhu beat Adam Vella for the bronze medal 2-1 in the tie shoot, after having led the field along with Heading with 123, the Indian shooters collected another gold and silver in centrefire pistol, to take their contribution to 13 gold, eight silver and three bronze medals in the Commonwealth Games.
“The wind was tough, and I am glad I stuck it out,” said Sandhu, understandably happy about not disappointing the packed arena. He had shot 25, 24, 24, 25 and 25 in qualification.
It was a heroic performance from Heading, as he shot 24 birds straight in windy conditions after missing the first bird and losing the lead. Manavjit missed the first two, and it was then a battle between Heading and Diamond who had shot 122.
Mansher Singh was two points behind the leaders, but missed nine birds in the final, including three in a row early, to end up sixth.
Twist in the tale
There was a twist to the tale in centrefire pistol, as Harpreet Singh won the gold by a six-point margin over the favourite Vijay Kumar, who was gunning for his fourth successive gold.
It was the second gold for Harpreet, after the pairs gold in the centrefire pistol event with Vijay Kumar, and he richly deserved it for the fighting performance after an indifferent start.
The 29-year-old Navy marksman based in Coimbatore, came up with a 292 out of 300, after having shot 288 in the precision series.
Vijay Kumar won the shoot-off against three others after being tied at a below par 574. As it turned out he beat Singapore's Lip Meng Poh who had led till the last series, 49-48.
There was some confusion at the tie-shoot, as the Australian had crossfired into the Singapore target, but the jury was able to distinguish the shots and resolve the issue.
Suma fourth
In women's air rifle India drew a rare blank, as Suma Shirur (394) and Kavitha Yadav (392) finished fourth and fifth respectively.
Suma started with a 97, following three successive 9s, but recovered to shoot 394.
In the final, she bridged the gap for a medal till 0.5 with the help of a perfect 10.9, but could not give a good finish. Kavitha shot the second best among the finalists with a 103.1.
