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Home  » Sports » Australian shooter's bizzare 'own goal'

Australian shooter's bizzare 'own goal'

By Harish Kotian
October 10, 2010 16:12 IST
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Believe it or not…but Australia's oldest athlete committed one of the most bizarre mistakes the sporting world has ever seen. 

Michelangelo Giustiniano, 57, scored what is known as an 'own goal' in shooting when he mistakenly fired all his shots into his competitor's target. 

It was a big shock considering Giustiniano is a veteran in sport having three appearances at the Commonwealth Games, having won two gold medals and a bronze. 

Harpreet SinghHarpreet Singh won the gold with a score of 580 in the final in the men's 25m Centrefire Pistol at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range on Sunday. 

But a shoot-off was required to determine the silver and bronze medallists after four shooters were level on points. 

India's Vijay Kumar, Lip Meng Poh of Singapore, England's Michael Gault and Giustiniano were tied on 574 points each. 

In the shoot-off, Giustiniano fired all of his rounds into the target of the competitor next to him and lost out on the medal. 

Vijay Kumar took the silver with a score of 49 in the shoot-off for his fourth medal of the Delhi Games, while Meng Poh took the bronze with a total of 48. 

After the event, Giustiniano was at a loss of words to explain his error. 

"I don't recall this ever happening. It's crazy. I'll get my head around it eventually. It's not only tough to take, but the chances of me making up for this are slim." 

"I contributed to the other guy's score. The target records the first shot that hits it, so it might be his, it might be mine, but it will record the shot. The target recorded five shots but ten shots had gone through it. So he gets credit with the highest scores out of ten shots," he said.

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