Apurvi Chandela and Ayonika Paul dominate 10-metre air rifle, Prakash Nanjappa second in pistol event
PTI
GLASGOW, July 26
Young Rajasthan girl Apurvi Chandela got India its second gold from the shooting range winning the 10m Air Rifle event at the Commonwealth Games on Saturday as compatriot Ayonika Paul boosted the medal tally with a silver.
Earlier, Prakash Najappa had got a silver in the 10m Air Pistol event as India now have two gold and two silver medals from the range.
21-year-old Chandela led from the beginning shattering the Games Record with a score of 206.7 while Ayonika finished a creditable second with a score of 204.9.
It was only fitting that the Jaipur girl, who started shooting only six years back after watching Abhinav Bindra get gold in the Beijing Olympics, won in the legendary shooter’s pet event.
Chandela, whose father has built a shooting range at home, trains under her uncle Hem Singh.
She was consistency personified throughout the event as she topped the qualifying rounds with a score of 415.6. Ayonika qualified with a fourth position.
In the main round, Chandela regularly scored between 10.2 to 10.7 as she always maintained atleast 1.5 points difference from his nearest rival.
Ayonika was not in medal contention till the first 10 shots but she was brilliant in the back 10 as she regularly fired 10.5 to 10.7 to improve her position.
Earlier, Nanjappa finished a heart-breaking second in men’s 10m Air Pistol to give India their third medal.
Nanjappa, who won a bronze in the ISSF World Cup in South Korea last year, was leading at the end of the second series of the elimination stage but he apparently lost concentration and shot a disappointing 7.7 to hand the lead to eventual winner Daniel Repacholi of Australia.
Despite the setback in the sixth shot of the elimination stage, the 38-year-old Banglorean tried his best to catch up with the Australian but failed to do so in the end and had to settle with a silver at the Barry Buddon Shooting Centre at Dundee today.
Repacholi won the gold with a total of 199.5 while Prakash scored 198.2. England’s 60-year-old Michel Gault got the bronze.
Nanjappa, who topped the qualification round, was seen ruffled by that mistake and he was taking deep breaths in between the shots. A team member later said Prakash felt time constraint and that was why the grip over his pistol was not proper when he shot 7.7.
Before the last round, Repacholi had taken a lead of 1.4 points but he could only come up with a 9.3 in the penultimate shot and Prakash could have narrowed down the gap. The Indian could not do that as he also shot a 9.3 at a crucial juncture.
Prakash was the first to fire the last shot and he came up with a 10.5, putting pressure on his Australian opponent. But Repacholi fired a 10.4 to run away with the gold.
The other Indian in the fray, Om Prakash had failed to qualify for the final round.
Yesterday, India had won a gold in men’s 10m Air Rifle through Abhinav Bindra while Malaika Goel settled for women’s 10m Air Pistol.
