The Hindu : Sport / Shooting : Gagan Narang reigns supreme

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 14, 2004

Sport

Sport - Shooting

Gagan Narang reigns supreme

By Kirti Patil

INDORE, OCT. 13. Gagan Narang etched his name in the record books shooting an outstanding 105.7 in the final of the men's 10m Air rifle event in the 48th National championships at the Reoti Ranges here on Wednesday.

Narang's terrific final score helped him edge past the leader, Navy's Sanjeev Rajput, to win the gold medal with an aggregate score of 697.7, in a contest that went to the wire. Shooting from the fourth lane after having logged 592 in the qualification round, Narang made steady progress shooting an impressive series of 10s, and if one may say a 9.8 on the third shot was the only blemish.

``Three 10.9s and one 10.8 for a total of 105.7 is something out of the world,'' was an impromptu comment by National coach Prof. Sunny Thomas.

``This is the best score in the final I have ever seen anywhere in the world. As far as my memory goes, no shooter has logged such a high score,'' Prof Thomas added.

Opening with a 10.8, Narang hit the bulls' eye (10.9) on the fourth, sixth and ninth shots as he set out to better his bad score in the qualification round.

``I wanted to win this title despite shooting a low score of 592. I knew I was shooting 10s and just had to concentrate more to bridge the gap,'' said Narang about the three-point deficit he had before the start of the final.

``I don't know whether I shot the world's best final score, but surely I am happy with this kind score in the final,'' said Narang, who is sponsored by Indian Airlines.

As for the record, the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) does not classify the scores of the final in its records. Thailand's Tevarit Majchacheeap, who shot perfect 600 at the Asian shooting championship in Langkawi in January 2000, holds the 10m Air rifle World Record. And, as for the Final World Record, U.S.'s Jason Parker has shot the maximum aggregate, a 702.5 (599, 103.5), at the World Cup in Munich in June 2003. As such, Narang's 105.7 seems one of the best achieved in the final, but will need ratification by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) and the ISSF.

In the team championship, Navy won the title posting cumulative score of 1775 points. The BSF took the silver with 1764 while Army (1755) settled for the bronze medal.

The results: Men: 10m Air rifle: 1. Gagan Narang (IA) (592, 10.8, 10.5, 9.8, 10.9, 10.3, 10.9, 10.6, 10.7, 10.9, 10.3) 697.7, 2. Sanjeev Rajput (Navy) (595, 10.1, 10.5, 10.3, 9.2, 9.7, 10.5, 10.6, 10.5, 10.4, 10.3) 697.1, 3. Manoj Kumar (Navy) (594, 10.9, 9.8, 9.9, 10.5, 10.3, 10.4, 10.7, 9.8, 10.0, 9.2) 695.5, 4. Sandeep J. Tarate (Mah) (591, 102.4) 693.4 (10.7), 5. Bishnu Nag (Navy) (590, 103.4) 693.4 (9.8), 6. Akhilesh Rai (BSF) (592, 101.4) 693.4 (9.5), 7. Sudhir Paul (Army) (590, 102.7) 692.7, 8. Raj Kumar (BSF) (588, 101.3) 689.3.

Team: 1. Navy (Sanjeev Rajput, Manoj Kumar, P. T. Raghunath) 1775, 2. Border Security Force (Raj Kumar, Akhilesh Rai, H. Salim) 1764, 3. Army (Anil Prusty, Sudhir Paul, Imran Hasan Khan) 1755.

Junior men: 1. Sandeep J. Tarate (Mah) 591, 2. Jogeshwar Singh Ghuman (Pun) 590, 3. Sultan Singh Chhina (Pun) 584.

Team: 1. Punjab (Jogeshwar Singh Ghumman, Ashreet Singh Dhaliwal, Sultan Singh Chinna) 1752, 2. Maharashtra (Navanath B. Faratade, Fulchand R. Bangar, Sandeep J. Tarate) 1740, 3. Army (Kiran Bhosle, Anil Prusty, Mangesh Vitthal Mane) 1726.

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