Sat, Nov 13 10 03:07 PM
S S Ramaswamy Guangzhou, Nov 13 (PTI) Gagan Narang stole the show from star shooter Abhinav Bindra by clinching the silver in the 10m air rifle individual event after the Olympic champion was controversially eliminated in the qualifying stage due to a "technical error" over a particular shot. Narang, the hero of India''s campaign at last month''s Commonwealth Games with a four-gold feat, combined with Bindra and Sanjeev Rajput to provide the country with their first medal, a silver, in the team event behind champions China. Narang, Bindra and Rajput combined to tally 1783, only a point behind China''s gold-capturing 1784. Narang, the lone Indian to qualify for the individual finals, matched China''s 2004 Athens Olympic champion Zhu Qinan shot for shot before the latter captured the gold by shooting past his Indian Rival in the last three shots. The 27-year-old settled for the silver after giving Qinan a run for his money in the ten-shot finals. He tallied of 700.7 points behind Qinan''s gold-winning effort of 702. Korean Kim Kwon won the bronze with 700.0. "I am extremely happy to have carried the Indian flag in the Opening Ceremony yesterday and I am very happy that we have won two silver medals. There are two more events left for me and I am hoping for the best," said Narang who was initially reluctant to be the country''s flag-bearer as his event was scheduled early this morning. Narang also said that the range was a bit difficult as the back-lighting was a hindrance. "I have won a gold here in 2006 but that was a long time ago. The back lighting took time to get adjusted to and I had to use a blinder on my right eye to shoot which I had never done before," he said. Narang also said that a one point lead going into the finals was difficult to bridge against a top shooter like Qinan. "Even if I had a 10.9 I would not have won it," he said. But his feat was also overshadowed by a controversy involving Bindra. Indian coaches Sunny Thomas and Stanislaus Lapidus cried foul over Bindra''s 42nd shot in the 60-shot preliminaries. "The score given was a 7 but we were quite sure it was a 9. I went to Abhinav who also thought it was closer to 9 but was not sure about it. Had we protested and we would have lost two points as penalty. It was Abhinav''s call who had the team''s chances also in his mind," said Lapidus. Thomas also said the score should have been a 9 and not 7. Bindra also thought that he shot a ''9'' but was given only a 7. .
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