India’s Apurvi Chandela struck gold in the women’s 10m air rifle on the opening day of the shooting competitions here on Wednesday.
The 23-year-old Jaipur shooter, who topped the morning qualifiers with a scorecard of 419.8 points, was in control during the afternoon session too. Perhaps the only time that this 2014 CWG gold medallist faltered slightly was when she recorded a 9.8 in the second shot of the first sequence of three shots.
The rest were all 10s and more as Apurvi wrested the lead from compatriot Elizabeth Susan Koshy, the early leader, and topped the charts with 209.0. Elizabeth, who was third in the qualifiers with 411.0, too had a good final as she finished second behind Apurvi with a 207.1. Earlier, Pooja Ghatkar ensured a clean sweep by India and finished third with a score of 185.9.
The trio with a combined total of 1248.5 points also helped the team to gold, the qualification scores of individual shooters being counted for the final placing.
The Indian pride was, however, dented in the men’s 50m pistol as Ahmed Sakil (Bangladesh) claimed the individual gold by shooting out his Indian rival Om Prakash in what was a tense final.
Sakil with a score of 527 was ranked seventh, overall, after the qualifiers but turned out to be the one to hold nerve in the final. Omkar Singh, the leader of the pack in qualification with 550, was eliminated after four rounds and P.N. Prakash, the other Indian in the fray, bowed out after the seventh round. With Kalimullah Khan (Pakistan) too leaving the arena after the eighth round, Sakil still held on to his early lead, winning the title by a narrow margin of 0.3 points. Sakil was credited with a card of 187.6 as he took the pole position.
India, nevertheless, won the team title for the event with a total of 1622, ahead of Pakistan (1583) and Bangladesh (1575).
The results:Men: 50m pistol: 1. Ahmed Sakil (Ban), (527, 187.6), 2. Om Prakash (Ind), (550, 187.3), 3. Kalimullah Khan (Pak), (538, 165.9).
Team: 1. India (Om Prakash, 550, P.N. Prakash 540, Om Prakash 532), 1622, 2. Pakaistan, 1583, 3. Bangladesh, 1575.
Women: 10m air rifle: 1. Apurvi Chandela (Ind), (419.8, 209.0), 2. Elizabeth Susan Koshy (Ind), (411.0, 207.1), 3. Pooja Ghatkar (India), (417.7, 185.9). Team: India, 1248.5, 2. Sri Lanka, 1216.4, 3. Bangladesh, 1215.7.
