Omkar Singh took the top spot among the eight qualifiers and defended his position with élan in the decider spread over 10 rounds in the 10m air pistol final of the 55th National shooting championships which concluded here on Tuesday. The Indian Navy marksman followed up his 578 qualifying score with a 98.6 (aggregate 676.6) in the final.
Vivek Singh (Air India) almost pulled off a surprise with four consecutive 10-plus shots, but fell behind 0.1 points and settled for the silver with 676.5. Omprakash Choudhary (Navy) was a close third with 676.4.
Earlier, Gagan Narang chased down the gold he was looking for at this Nationals, clinching the gruelling men's 50m rifle 3-Position event ahead of 2011 Changwon World Cup champion, Sanjeev Rajput.
Gagan, the latest Khel Ratna awardee, managed 398, 384 and 392 to lead the eight qualifiers. He began with a 10.5 in the final and repeated the feat on the 10th shot to take home the gold with an aggregate of 1272. Rajput's 1156 in qualifying pulled him down to second place overall, despite hitting the bull's eye six times for an outstanding 101.1 in the 10-shot final round.
Relieved
Omkar expressed relief after escaping Vivek's rapid ascent in the last round. “In the past, I used to lead in qualifying and slip to the second spot when someone caught up from behind. This time, I wanted to shoot aggressively and at the same time remain ahead of the others,” said the Navy shooter, based at INS Agrani in Coimbatore.
“My aim is to win a medal at the Asian championships while competing against the Chinese and Koreans. It will boost my confidence as the Asian standards are close to world levels,” Omkar said. For Gagan, climbing to the top of the podium made up for two silvers earlier in 50m prone (behind Sushil Ghaley) and 10m air rifle (behind Abhinav Bindra).
According to National coach Prof. Sunny Thomas, the Indian team for the 2012 Asian shooting championships in Qatar will be announced in New Delhi on Wednesday after the selection committee meeting.
The results (finals):
Men's 10m air pistol: 1. Omkar Singh (Navy) (578, 98.6) 676.6; 2. Vivek Singh (Air India) (574, 102.5) 676.5; 3. Omprakash Choudhary (Navy) (577, 99.4) 676.4; 4. Yogesh Singh (Navy) (577, 98.6) 675.6; 5. Amanpreet Singh (ONGC) (576, 99.1) 675.1; 6. Samaresh Jung (CISF) (576, 96.4) 674.4; 7. Amit Pilaniya (Army) (577, 96.3) 673.3; 8. Sikander Mann (Pun) (574, 98) 672.
50m rifle 3-Position: 1. Gagan Narang (Air India) (1174, 98) 1272; 2. Sanjeev Rajput (Navy) (1156, 101.1) 1257; 3. Imran Hassan Khan (Army) (1154, 97.1) 1251.1; 4. Surendra Rathore (Army) (1153, 96.7) 1249.7; 5. Sushil Ghaley (Army) (1157, 92.3) 1249.3; 6. Satyendra Singh (Army) (1147, 99.1) 1246.1; 7. Hariom Singh (Army) (1148, 91.5) 1239.5; 8. Aliyas Ali (Army) (1146, 88) 1234.
