Gagan Narang, Shweta Chaudhary and Samaresh Jung stood out as India won three more team golds to swell its gold tally to 21 in the Commonwealth shooting championship at the Karni Singh Range in Tughlakabad on Friday.
It was the fifth medal and fourth gold for Narang, as he shot 596 in lifting the team to a new mark with Joydeep Karmkar (590) in the men’s 50-metre free rifle prone event. The Indian duo beat Australia by four points.
Shweta Chaudhary topped the list in women’s 10-metre air pistol, with an impressive 384 out of 400. Though Pushpanjali Rana made 371, the total was good enough to beat England by 12 points. Interestingly, Annuraj Singh, not part of the Indian pair, shot equally well with 384 for the silver badge.
Samaresh Jung continued to emphasise his good form as he topped the 25-metre standard pistol event with a score of 575. His partner, Gurpreet Singh missed the last two shots in the 10-second series, to end up with a 546, but the total turned out to be 24 points better than that of England’s.
In men’s skeet, two-time National champion Mairaj Ahmed Khan underlined his resolve by leading the field of 13 shooters with a 73 out of 75, following rounds of 24, 24 and 25. Arozepal Singh had rounds of 24, 23, 24 to figure third with a 71, the same as P.P. Singh. Drew Christie of Scotland with 72 was figuring second, with two more rounds left for the morrow before the final.
There was heartbreak for the Indian women’s skeet shooters, as luck and good form deserted them, particularly Arti Singh, after the team had claimed the silver. Arti undid all her good work with a below par 17 in the third and last round, to miss the final by one point. She had shot rounds of 23 and 22 earlier.
The results (team): Men: 25m standard pistol (team): 1. India (Samaresh Jung 575, Gurpreet Singh 546) 1121; 2. England (Michael Gault 556, Ubhi Iqbal 541) 1097; 3. Wales (Steve Pengelly 553, Alan Green 543) 1096.
50m free rifle prone: 1. India (Gagan Narang 596, Joydeep Karmakar 590) 1187 (NMR); 2. Australia (Robert Howell 593, Warren Potent 589) 1182; 3. England (James Huckle 590, RichardWilson 589) 1179.
Women: 10m air pistol: 1. India (Shweta Chaudhary 384, Pushpanjali Rana 371) 755; 2. England (Georgina Geikie 379, Julia Lydall 364); 3. Wales (Danielle Jones 365, Nicola Wilson 362) 727.
50m rifle prone: 1. Johanne Brekke (Wal) 594; 2. Kay Copland (Sco) 593; 3. Robyn Van Nus (Aus) 592; 11. Tejaswini Sawant 585; 13. Irmati 583; 14. Lajja Gauswami 582.
Skeet: 1. Elena Allen (Wal) 92 (68); 2. Sian Bruce (Sco) 90 (67); 3. Cerys Evans (Wal) 86 (66); 7. Arti Singh 62; 8. Saniya Shaikh 56; 9. Rashmee Rathore 50.
