rediff.com: Bindra's gold provided the luster in 2008

Otherwise, the year fluctuated between perfection and mediocrity for other Indian shooters.

Gagan Narang, who missed a medal at the Beijing Games by a whisker, fired perfect scores of the World record-equaling 600/600 in Germany and 400/400 in Bangkok to underlined the fact that it was sheer bad luck that he was not on the podium alongside Bindra at the Olympics.

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The 25-year-old Hyderabadi, who missed the Olympic final on the count-back with a 595, shot two different records to win the 10m air rifle in the World Cup finals in Bangkok.

Outclassing a strong field that comprised everyone except reigning World and Olympic champion Bindra, who had opted to rest, Narang entered the final round with an equalled world record, and then raised the limits of the sport by setting a new record of 703.5.

In the process, Narang erased the record held by Thomas Farnik of Austria, who had shot 703.1 at the World Cup finals at Granada, Spain in 2006.