Shooting: Amardeep pips Rahul for gold

By Our Special Correspondent

MOHALI, NOV. 27. Amardeep Singh Rai clinched the skeet gold for Chattisgarh, as the shooting competition concluded in the National Games here on Tuesday.

Though the competition had been restricted to 75 birds in the preliminary phase instead of the usual 125 birds, it was a creditable fare from the 32-year-old Amardeep to have beaten a strong field, as he pipped Rahul Rai by one point.

Amardeep had lost the national title to Harinder Singh Bedi in Bikaner by one point, and it was a sweet revenge for him, as the latter made it difficult for himself by dropping four birds in the final.

Amardeep made the final one point behind Harinder Bedi who had clinched the golden badge in the recent Commonwealth Championship with a tally of 99 out of 100, but shot a 24 with delightful authority, the same as Rahul Rai, to win a warm round of applause.

After a 25 in the third round, the only perfect round, in a field of 25, it was a disappointment for Harinder Bedi, but it was difficult to focus in fading light. He missed the double from the fourth station, much to the embarrassment of the skeet coach from Peru, Juan Giha, who kept himself busy marking the scoreboard.

``I had shot two 24s in the qualifying series, and I was pretty confident. The machines were behaving better, after the trouble we had during the practice sessions. My shooting style was also better thanks to the presence of the national coach here,'' said Amardeep Rai, quite pleased with his effort.

Rao Inderjit Singh and P.S. Sodhi tied for the fourth slot with 90, while Parakram Chauhan shot a 86 to finish sixth. International shooters Saravdeep Mann (65) and Hari Simran Singh Sandhu (62) failed to make the final.

Delhi clinched the team gold to take its tally from shooting to 10 gold, eight silver and three bronze medals.

Services was second with eight gold, seven silver and six bronze medals. Maharashtra collected four gold, four silver and three bronze, to be ahead of Punjab which ended up with three gold, three silver and four bronze. Madhya Pradesh had 12 medals from the shooting range, but seven of them were bronze, apart from two gold and three silver.

After all the hiccups in the run-up to the competition and during the meet, the organisers must have heaved a huge sigh of relief at things coming to an end. The feeling would have been the same with the shooters and the rest.

The results (finals) :

Skeet: 1. Amardeep Singh Rai (Chat) (24, 22, 24; 24) 94; 2. Rahul Rai (Del) (22, 23, 24; 24) 93; 3. Harinder Singh Bedi (Del) (22, 24, 25; 21) 92.

Team: 1. Delhi (Harinder Singh Bedi 71, Rahul Rai 69, P.S. Sodhi 67) 207; 2. Chattisgarh (Naveen Jindal 65, Amardeep Singh Rai 70, Rajpal Singh Kocchar 65) 200; 3. Haryana (Rao Inderjit Singh 68, Shivender Bhel 64, Saravdeep Mann 65) 197.

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Section  : Sport
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