The Hindu : Sport / Olympic Games : Indian marksmen off target

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 16, 2004

Sport

Sport - Olympic Games

Indian marksmen off target

By Kamesh Srinivasan

ATHENS, AUG. 15. Trap shooters Manavjit Singh Sandhu and Mansher Singh could not lift the morale of the Indian shooting squad, as they failed to make the final in a field of 35, at the Markopoulo range here on Sunday.

Manavjit was better placed overnight with a 71 out of 75, that had put him at No. 16, but shot rounds of 21 and 24 this morning to end up joint 19th with the Sydney Olympic Games silver medallist, Ian Peel of Britain, a piece of information that may be a source of consolation for the faithful Indian enthusiasts who had pinned their hopes on the marksman.

Incidentally, Peel had won the World Cup in New Delhi last year to win an Olympic place.

Mansher had tumbled out of the race with a 21 in the third round the previous evening, and rounds of 23 and 23 today saw him take the joint 21st slot with a 115. He had a series of 25, 23, 21, 23 and 23.

The world and Olympic champion in double trap, Russell Mark, who has been training Mansher recently along with his main ward, double trap marksman Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, said that the 38-year-old Indian had a lapse in concentration.

"When Mansher started with a 25, I thought that he was fine. I spoke to him last night, and he said that he lost his way with that 21 in the third round. Technically he is fine, but he should focus a lot harder. He needs to compete at this level more, the way he had done in the Czech meet. He has four more good years leading up to Beijing," said Mark, who was equally disappointed about his Australian friend, Michael Diamond not making the final.

The two-time Olympic champion and Olympic record-holder, Diamond, finished eighth with a 119 out of 125. He had shot a 25, 22 and 25 on the first day, and could return only rounds of 24 and 23 this morning.

Alipov wins gold

Alexei Alipov of Russia won the gold equalling Diamond's Olympic record of 149 out of 150 set in Atlanta in 1996. He had a 25 in the final, after a string of 25, 25, 24, 25 and 25 in the preliminary series.

World record holder Giovanni, who had shot a perfect 125 ten years ago in a World Cup in Nicosia, took the second place with a 146, as he pipped Aussie Adam Vella by a single point in a spectacular final when the contest was basically for the silver and bronze medals.

Kostevych triumphs

AP reports:

Olena Kostevych of Ukraine won the gold medal in the women's 10-metre air pistol, needing a shoot-off to beat Jasna Sekaric of Serbia-Montenegro in the final.

After 10 shots in the final round, and 40 shots in the qualifying round, Kostevych and Sekaric were tied at 483.3, setting the stage for a one-shot tiebreaker.

Kostevych shot a 10.2 to Sekaric's 9.4 to seal the deal.

"I am very happy and I can't believe that I have won the gold medal," Kostevych said. Sekaric led after the qualifying round with a score of 387, three points ahead of Kostevych and one in front of Irada Ashumova of Azerbaijan, Natalia Paderina of Russia, and Maria Grozdeva of Bulgaria.

Before Kostevych and Sekaric could fire the deciding shots, two other tiebreakers were needed for lower positions.

In the bronze-medal shoot-off, Grozdeva shot a 10.4, while China's Ren Jie shot a 9.7. They had been tied at 482.3, a full point behind Kostevych and Sekaric.

Earlier, Paderina shot a 10 to move into fifth place ahead of Munkhbayar Dorjsuren of Germany, who shot a 9.3.

"I am very satisfied with my result because I had many problems with my preparation time," Sekaric said. "In Serbia we don't have proper conditions for training. I am very pleased with my qualification score and I'm very happy that I achieved second place."

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