Indian shooters put up a dismal show on another windy day as they drew a blank for the third day in running with only pistol expert and Melbourne Commonwealth Games hero Samaresh Jung coming up with something notable in the Asian Games on Wednesday.
Bespectacled Jung, who earned the nickname 'Goldfinger' after grabbing a record five gold medals four years ago in Melbourne missed the men's 25m standard pistol shoot-off for the bronze by one point in a straight final to finish 7th overall with 569 points from amongst 39 shooters.
But his two other teammates, Pemba Tamang and Chandrahas Chaudhary, performed very poorly, shooting only 550 and 549 out of 600 to end up 22nd and 23rd respectively and the combined effort cost India a team medal too as they finished fourth with 1668 points, well behind bronze winners North Korea's 1690, from eleven contestants.
Her teammate Lajjakumari Gauswami ended up a rung below her with the same score and Chetenpreet Kaur Nilon secured the 31st spot with 559.
In the 25m pistol event, Jung fired 569 out of 600, an improvement of ten points from his performance in last month's Commonwealth Games in Delhi, with 13 scores of ten but missed the cut off for the third-place play-off by one point with four others logging 570. He finished seventh overall.
The faster he had to shoot, the farther he shot off the target.
Jung's teammates Pemba Tamang were way off target to log 188, 187 and 175 and 185, 190 and 174 respectively. They were especially off target in the ten-second shots.
She did 92 and 93 in standing and 95 and 93 kneeling. Lajja did very well in prone before her scores tapered off.
The women have completed their engagements in pistol and rifle shooting with only one bronze to show for, in women's 10m air pistol team event.
Chief coach Sunny Thomas said it was quite windy in the 50m range but that cannot be touted as an excuse as the scores put up by the women shooters were way below par.
"It was very windy again but the shooters need to adjust to these conditions, delay their shots by judging the changing wind direction by looking at the small flags in front of them," Thomas said.
The coach said overall the performance of the shooters in four days of competition has been unsatisfactory.
"I am not at all satisfied. The scores are not good enough. Medals are different but the scores are not at all good. They are way below what they are capable of," he said.
India scooped up two silver medals in the 10m air rifle on the first day with the individual medal going to CWG's star performer Gagan Narang, and two bronze on the second day (women's team in the 10m air pistol and Vijay Kumar in men's individual air pistol event).
But Thomas expressed confidence that tomorrow the Indian men competitors in the 50m three-position rifle event have very good chances to win more than one medal.
"We have very good chances of medals (more than one) in the 3-position event. Narang, Sanjeev Rajput and Imran Hasan Khan are shooting very well," he said.
There were also chances of a medal in the men's 25m centre fire pistol event in which Vijay Kumar, Harpreet Singh and Gurpreet Singh would take part, he added.
Thomas also expressed hopes about India's medal chances in the shot gun events which are to be held from November 19.
"Chances for medals are there as the field is slightly weaker than in the Commonwealth Games. Our team is very strong in both single and double trap. We have to win medals," he said.
Asher Noria, Vikram Bhatnagar, Ronjon Sondhi (Double trap), Mansher Singh, Manavjit Singh and Zoravar Singh Sandhu (Trap), Miraj Ahmed Khan, Smit Singh and Allan Daniels (Skeet) form the men's shot gun team.
The corresponding women's team comprises Arti Singh Rao (Skeet), Shagun Chowdhury, Shreyasi Singh and Seema Tomar (Trap).
Bespectacled Jung, who earned the nickname 'Goldfinger' after grabbing a record five gold medals four years ago in Melbourne missed the men's 25m standard pistol shoot-off for the bronze by one point in a straight final to finish 7th overall with 569 points from amongst 39 shooters.
But his two other teammates, Pemba Tamang and Chandrahas Chaudhary, performed very poorly, shooting only 550 and 549 out of 600 to end up 22nd and 23rd respectively and the combined effort cost India a team medal too as they finished fourth with 1668 points, well behind bronze winners North Korea's 1690, from eleven contestants.
Her teammate Lajjakumari Gauswami ended up a rung below her with the same score and Chetenpreet Kaur Nilon secured the 31st spot with 559.
Advertisement
In the 25m pistol event, Jung fired 569 out of 600, an improvement of ten points from his performance in last month's Commonwealth Games in Delhi, with 13 scores of ten but missed the cut off for the third-place play-off by one point with four others logging 570. He finished seventh overall.
Advertisement
The faster he had to shoot, the farther he shot off the target.
Advertisement
Jung's teammates Pemba Tamang were way off target to log 188, 187 and 175 and 185, 190 and 174 respectively. They were especially off target in the ten-second shots.
Advertisement
She did 92 and 93 in standing and 95 and 93 kneeling. Lajja did very well in prone before her scores tapered off.
Advertisement
The women have completed their engagements in pistol and rifle shooting with only one bronze to show for, in women's 10m air pistol team event.
Chief coach Sunny Thomas said it was quite windy in the 50m range but that cannot be touted as an excuse as the scores put up by the women shooters were way below par.
"It was very windy again but the shooters need to adjust to these conditions, delay their shots by judging the changing wind direction by looking at the small flags in front of them," Thomas said.
The coach said overall the performance of the shooters in four days of competition has been unsatisfactory.
"I am not at all satisfied. The scores are not good enough. Medals are different but the scores are not at all good. They are way below what they are capable of," he said.
India scooped up two silver medals in the 10m air rifle on the first day with the individual medal going to CWG's star performer Gagan Narang, and two bronze on the second day (women's team in the 10m air pistol and Vijay Kumar in men's individual air pistol event).
But Thomas expressed confidence that tomorrow the Indian men competitors in the 50m three-position rifle event have very good chances to win more than one medal.
"We have very good chances of medals (more than one) in the 3-position event. Narang, Sanjeev Rajput and Imran Hasan Khan are shooting very well," he said.
There were also chances of a medal in the men's 25m centre fire pistol event in which Vijay Kumar, Harpreet Singh and Gurpreet Singh would take part, he added.
Thomas also expressed hopes about India's medal chances in the shot gun events which are to be held from November 19.
"Chances for medals are there as the field is slightly weaker than in the Commonwealth Games. Our team is very strong in both single and double trap. We have to win medals," he said.
Asher Noria, Vikram Bhatnagar, Ronjon Sondhi (Double trap), Mansher Singh, Manavjit Singh and Zoravar Singh Sandhu (Trap), Miraj Ahmed Khan, Smit Singh and Allan Daniels (Skeet) form the men's shot gun team.
The corresponding women's team comprises Arti Singh Rao (Skeet), Shagun Chowdhury, Shreyasi Singh and Seema Tomar (Trap).
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Manu Bhaker's Olympic Success Becomes Defining Moment For Indian Shooting In 2024 Teen US School Shooter Was In Therapy Over Parents' Troubled Relationship Teacher Who Died Is US School Shooting Was Covering For Another On Leave 2 Dead, 60 Injured In German Christmas Market Car Attack, Saudi Man Arrested Tabla Legend Zakir Hussain's Funeral Held In San Francisco Hardeep Puri vs Shashi Tharoor Over 2009 Dinner With George Soros In US Saudi Arabia Expresses "Solidarity" With Germany After Market Attack New Syrian Leaders Say They Want To Contribute To 'Regional Peace' Tashi Namgyal - Man Who Alerted Army About 1999 Pakistan Intrusions, Dies Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.