By Abhishek Roy, IANS,
New Delhi : After a medal winning streak, disappointment was in store for India on the final day of the shooting competition Wednesday as the hosts failed to win a single gold medal at the Commonwealth Games here. The shooters finished with a medal tally of 30, including 14 gold.
The shooters bagged more medals than they did four years ago at the Games in Melbourne (27) but couldn’t surpass the 16 gold they won then.
Indian shooters were expected to win at least three gold medals Wednesday and cross the Melbourne gold tally. But they misfired, when it mattered the most.
Pistol shooter Heena Sidhu missed the gold by 0.3 points, and Samresh Jung settled for the bronze while Gagan Narang failed to qualify for the final of the 50 metre rifle prone individual event. Narang, however, emerged as the best shooter with four golds.
Patiala-girl Heena, who had won the gold with Annu Raj Singh in the pairs’ event of the 10 metre air pistol here Monday, was leading the pack of eight shooters till the seventh shot in the final round of the individual event. But the 21-year-old student of Bachelor of Dental Surgery buckled under pressure in the last three shots and lost the gold by 0.3 points at the Karni Singh Shooting Range.
Heena shot a total of 481.6 (383 qualifying, 98.6 final) while the gold went to Malaysia’s Pei Chin Bibiana with a score of 481.9 (383 qualifying, 98.9 final). Australia’s Dina Apsandiyarova settled for the bronze with 478.9 points (380 qualifying, 98.8 final). Annu Raj shot 475.7 (377 qualifying, 98.7 final) and finished fourth.
In the men’s 25 metre standard pistol, Samresh won the bronze with a score of 559 while the gold went to Singapore’s Bin Gai, who shot a total of 570. Trinidad and Tobago’s Daniel Peter Rogers got the silver with a score of 563.
Narang lost in a shoot-off after three shooters were tied at 590 for the eighth position in the qualification round. His compatriot Hariom Singh, who was battling viral fever, finished eighth in the final round. Hariom had a total of 689.6 (591 qualifying, 98.6 final).