Gagan Narang's purple patch in the Commonwealth Games continued as the Indian marksman combined with Imran Hasan Khan to clinch gold in pairs 50-metre rifle 3 positions event, while Vijay Kumar added to the tally, bagging the yellow metal in men's singles 25-metre rapid fire pistol category in New Delhi.
However, another Indian Gurpreet Singh, who had won a golden double yesterday, had to be content with a bronze today, while Shreyasi Singh and Seema Tomar could manage only a fifth-place finish in women's pair trap event at Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range.
Vijay totalled 583 after an impressive performance in six-seconds series, including a 100 in stage one, to finish seven points ahead of silver medallist Amir Hasan of Malaysia, while Gurpreet managed 569.
Gagan and Imran beat English pair of James Huckle and Kenny Parr to win the yellow metal, scoring a Games record of 2325 in the finals.
Huckle and Parr totalled 2308, same as bronze winner Jonathan Hammond and Neil Stirton of Scotland, but the English duo finished ahead of the Scots as they had more X (hit the bull's eye or perfect 10 more number of times) to their credit.
Canada's Michael Dion and Wayne Sorensan, who had scored 2300 during the Victoria Games in 1994, held the previous record in 50-metre 3 positions event.
It was business as usual for Gagan, who is aiming to win six gold medals in the quadrennial sporting extravaganza. He has already won three with three more events to go.
Riding high on his exploits in the 10-metre range, where he won both the pairs and singles events, the genial Hyderabadi consistently managed to hit the bull's eye in the five-metre range.
Doing equally well was his partner Imran, who scored an impressive 1158, nine points less than Gagan's 1167, to create another Games record. Gagan totalled 397 in prone, 385 in standing and 385 in kneeling, while Imran recored scored 395, 381 and 382 in the three stages respectively to win the top prize.
Runner up in 10-metre air rifle pairs, Huckle scored 1158 while his partner Parr finished with 1150. Hammond and Stirton totalled 1160 and 1148 respectively.
"I am focusing on the Asian Games now and would not like to say anything before that," Gagan said after the event even as scribes jostled for his bytes.
Delighted to have bagged his first medal in the Games, Imran said, "I am very happy. And it's always a pleasure to team up with a world class shooter like Gagan."
"I will be competing in 50-metre in Asian Games too," added Imran, who had won a gold in 10-metre air pistol in the last South Asian Games.
Australia's Laetisha Scanlan and Stacy Roiall clinched the gold in women's pairs trap event, while England's Abbey Burton and Anita North bagged the bronze.
Sue Nattrass and Cynthia Meyer of Canada picked the bronze medal.
© 2024 Rediff.com -