Gagan Narang wilts in final

India's Gagan Narang failed to carry his superb preliminary round form into the final and finished eighth in men's 10m Air Rifle in the ISSF World Cup, which concluded in Munich, Germany, on Monday.

Narang was in excellent touch in the preliminary round as he shot a series of 99, 100, 99, 100, 99 and 99 for a total of 596/600 to be sixth among the eight finalists. But in the final, his form suddenly dipped as he came up with the worst score of 99.6 points for a total of 695.6 points.

Among the other Indian contenders, Manoj Kumar finished 48th with a score of 590 while Abhinav Bindra did not start.

The gold medal went to Ryan Tanoue of the United States, who tallied 699.5 points (597 + 102.5). Romania's George Alin Moldoveanu [699.4 (597 + 102.4)] claimed the silver while the bronze went to Young Sueb Lim of Korea [698.5 (597 + 101.5)].

Narang's fine show together with that of Samresh Jung (50m Pistol men) and Sushma Rana (25m Pistol women), who both finished 15th in their respective events, were the high points of the 19-member Indian contingent's campaign in the tournament, from June 6 to 13.

In the women's 10m air rifle, Deepali Deshpande was unlucky to miss a place in the final despite ending up with a total of 396/400.

The next stop for the shooters is the ISSF World Cup, beginning in Milan, Italy, this week.

How the Indian shooters finished in the tournament:

Men:
10m Air Rifle: Gagan Narang (8th), Manoj Kumar (48th)
10m Air Pistol: Samresh Jung (67), Ronak Pandit (85), Vijay Kumar (89)
25m Rapid Fire Pistol: Pempa Tamang (27), Jaspal Rana (37)
50m Pistol: Samresh Jung (15), Vivek Singh (61), Ronak Pandit (96).

Women:
10m Air Rifle: Deepali Deshpande (21), Pounima Chinmoy Zanane (57), Meena Kumari (84)
10m Air Pistol: Harven Srao (32), Shweta Chaudhary (51), Saroja Kumari Juthu (84)
25m Pistol: Sushma Rana (15), Saroja Kumari Juthu (42), Shweta Chaudhary (52)
50m Rifle 3 Position: Deepali Deshpande (46), Meena Kumari (75).