Om Prakash bags free pistol gold

Om Prakash outclassed the rest of the field, including his army mate and London Olympic Games qualifier Vijay Singh, to bag the men's 50 m free pistol gold in the 55th National Shooting Championships at the Balewadi ranges, in Pune, on Wednesday.

The 25-year-old, Prakash took a big lead in the qualifying stage itself by logging 563 and then continued his good form in the final round to tally 661.4 that placed him far ahead of second-placed Singh.

Singh, who has earned a quota place for the 2012 Olympics in the 25m rapid fire event, tallied 647 for the silver. The bronze in the eight-man competition was bagged by Amanpreet Singh of ONGC with 646.9.

Shruti Bhattepatil of Maharashtra upstaged veteran Anjali Bhagwat, also from Maharashtra, to clinch the gold in the women's air rifle.

Results:

Men's 50m free pistol (final): Om Prakash (Army) 661.4 (563+98.4); 2. Vijay Singh (Army) 647.0 (558+89.0); 3. Amanpreet Singh (ONGC) 646.9 (549+97.9); 4. P N Prakash (Ktk, 644.9); 5. Farooq Ali (UP, 641.1), 6. Gurpal Singh (Army, 639.8), 7. Vipin Sherawat (UP, 637.3); 8. Satender Kumar (Navy, 634.0)

Women's air rifle (final): 1. Shruti Bhattepatil (Mah) 499.4 (395+104.4); 2. Nampi Das (WB) 499.2 (396+103.2); 3. Anjali Bhagwat (Mah) 498.4 (395+103.4)