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Photos: Gagan Narang's moment of glory
Last updated on: July 30, 2012 20:59 IST
Ace marksman Gagan Narang opened India's account at the London Olympics by clinching the bronze medal in the men's 10m Air Rifle event.
-London Olympics 2012 - Complete coverage
Narang shot 103.1 in a gripping ten-shot finals for an aggregate of 701.1, after scoring 598 in the qualifying round in which he also placed third.
- Congratulate Gagan Narang
The gold was won by Romania's Moldoveanu Alin George, who aggregated 702.1, that included 103.1 in the final, to upset World No. 1 Niccolo Campriani of Italy, who was second with 701.5, at the Royal Artillery Barracks.
After a good start, when he shot 10.7, Narang was off target with his second shot that fetched him 9.7. But he gathered his wits and steadied his aim to collect 10.6, 10.7, 10.4 and 10.6 in the following four shots to, at one stage, remain on course for a silver medal.
Tough fight with China's Tao for Bronze
Last updated on: July 30, 2012 20:59 IST
After returning poor scores of 9.9 and 9.5 in the seventh and eighth attempts, Narang pulled up his socks to seal the bronze with impressive scores of 10.3 and 10.7 later.
Narang's compatriot and defending champion Abhinav Bindra, however, suffered a shocking exit after a dismal show in the preliminaries in which he placed 16th out of 47 contestants with a score of 594 out of 600.
Narang's bronze medal is only the third in shooting on the planet's biggest sporting event after Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore's silver in double trap in Athens 2004 and Bindra's gold in the last Games at Beijing.
This was also India's eighth individual medal in the Olympic Games.
Narang kept his cool
Last updated on: July 30, 2012 20:59 IST
There was stage when Campriani's poor efforts of 9.9 and 9.4 in the eighth and penultimate series gave Narang a whiff of a chance of winning the silver, but the Italian fired a 10.4 in his last shot to dash the Indian's hopes of finishing second.
Earlier, Narang kept alive India's hopes by advancing to the medal round after Bindra crashed out.
Bindra, who scripted history four years ago by becoming the country's first-ever individual gold medallist in the Olympics, shot 594 out of 600 to finish a shocking 16th out of 47 competitors and lost the golden chance of becoming the world's first shooter to win two successive gold medals at the mega event.
Shock exit for Bindra
Last updated on: July 30, 2012 20:59 IST
Narang was bang on target from the beginning, scoring two successive 100s, but a 98 in the third series somewhat let him down.
The 29-year-old Hyderabadi, however, kept his cool and fought his way back into the reckoning for the medal round with a perfect 100 in the fourth series and then clinched the spot as the third best performer by notching two more 100s in his last two rounds.
Narang, a two-time World record setter, had won four gold medals in the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games and followed that up with two two silver in the Guangzhou Asian Games a month later.
He had also won four gold medals at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
Narang has two more events
Last updated on: July 30, 2012 20:59 IST
The two 100s gave Bindra the lift and the belief he badly needed after dropping a point each in the first two sets.
However, a 99 in the fifth and an even poorer outing in the last series where he could score just 97, dashed Bindra's chances of earning a berth in the eight-man finals.
This was the only event the 29-year-old Bindra fromChandigarh was taking part in, thereby cutting short his campaign in the ongoing Games.
Narang will be competing in two more events at the Games.
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