Sanjeev Rajput won the gold in free rifle 3-position event in the World Cup in Changwon, Korea, on Thursday, and grabbed one of the Olympic quota places for the London Games in 2012.
It was a spectacular performance by the 30-year-old Navy marksman from Yamuna Nagar, as he shot a National record 1176 in qualification and followed it with 102.2 in the final, for a total of 1278.2, another National record.
Rajput himself had held the National records at 1172 in qualification and 1272.9 in total. He became the third Indian in the current cycle behind Gagan Narang (air rifle) and Hariom Singh (rifle prone) to book Olympic quota places.
“I am very happy and proud of winning this Olympic quota place for my country,'' Rajput was quoted as saying by the International shooting federation, ISSF, after the event.
Rajput's outstanding effort — about which there had been no hint the previous day when he had shot 1158 in the elimination round — helped him beat the 40-year-old Nemanja Mirosavljev of Serbia by 5.7 points, for the gold.
In fact, the leader before the final, Ole Kristian Bryhn of Norway, who had shot 1177 in qualification, had to settle for the bronze 0.6 points behind the silver medallist following a below par fare in the final.
The results : Men: 50m free rifle 3-position : 1. Sanjeev Rajput 1278.2 (1176); 2. Nemanja Mirosavljev (Srb) 1272.5 (1172); 3. Ole Kristian Bryhn (Nor) 1271.9 (1177); 27. Imran Hassan Khan 1158; 39. Satyendra Singh 1154. MQS : Gagan Narang 1151; Surendra Singh Rathod 1140.
