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Shooting
Suma Shirur right on target
NEW DELHI, FEB. 2. Suma Shirur shot brilliantly to grab the women's air rifle gold, as the Indian shooters finished strongly on the third day of the Baltic Cup shooting championship in Aarhus, Denmark.
The 27-year-old Suma, who had been struggling in the last four matches in Europe, shot a breathtaking 104.2 in the final after a 396, to win the gold by a 0.9 margin ahead of Anni Bisso of Denmark.
The National silver medallist, Suma had a preliminary phase of 100, 99, 98 and 99, when she lay fourth among the finalists. In the final, she had a solid series of 10.5, 10.0, 10.1, 10.7, 10.0, 10.6, 10.7, 10.6, 10.7, 10.3.
Olympian Anjali Vedpathak had also shot a 396 with rounds of 98, 99, 99 and 100 but could muster only a 102.5 in the final which saw her miss a medal by 0.2 points.
Poornima Gawhane and Anuja Tere also did well to make the finals, and finished fifth and eighth respectively. The Indian team took the gold, a point ahead of Denmark.
Abhinav Bindra showed his class with a 103.9 in the men's final, but the gold eluded his grasp by 0.8 points. Abhinav had conceded a three-point lead to the eventual gold medallist, Marcus Akerholm of Sweden, after rounds of 99, 100, 98, 99, 99 and 100 in the preliminary phase. However, a string of 9.8, 10.2, 10.8, 10.7, 10.0, 10.7, 10.3, 10.8, 10.0, 10.6 saw him breathing down the neck of the champion.
The Indian team had to settle for the silver despite tying with Sweden at 1774.
Ronak Pandit was a revelation in the junior air pistol event, as he claimed his second gold with an impressive 571. Ronak specialises in rapidfire pistol, but shot rounds of 96, 94, 97, 95, 94 and 95 to have a better total than the seasoned Samaresh Jung and Ved Prakash who took the fourth and seventh slots in the senior section. The three, however, won the team silver.
Shilpi Singh also struck form eventually, as she came up with a 380, to take the air pistol bronze with a 479.3. She had a steady final of 10.5, 9.5, 10.2, 10.2, 10.3, 9.6, 9.7, 9.2, 10.1, 10.0.
Meena Kumari missed a medal in the junior air rifle event, on the count back, despite a 393, the same as the bronze medallist.
The Indian shooters will move to the Hague in the Netherlands, for the Den Haag Cup competition, featuring three more matches.
The results: Men: Air rifle: 1. Marcus Akerholm (Swe) 699.7 (598); 2. Abhinav Bindra 698.9 (595); 3. Michael Jensen (Den) 697.2 (595); 8. Charan Singh 691.8 (591); 12. Ashok Kumar Shahi 588; Team: 1. Sweden 1774; 2. India (Abhinav 595, Charan 591, Ashok 588) 1774; 3. Denmark 1771.
Air pistol: 1. Dick Lindgren (Swe) 683 (584); 2. Ragnar Shanaker (Swe) 677.8 (578); 3. Anders Bonander (Swe) 677.6 (577); 4. Samaresh Jung 670.1 (570); 7. Ved Prakash 667.2 (569); Team: 1. Sweden 1739; 2. India (Samaresh 570, Ved 569, Ronak 571) 1710; 3. Sweden-II 1706.
Juniors: 1. Ronak Pandit 571, 2. Nicklas Persson (Swe) 564; 3. A. Pettersson (Swe) 561.
Women: Air rifle: 1. Suma Shirur 500.2 (396); 2. Anni Bisso (Den) 499.3 (398); 3. Sasaki Ako (Jpn) 498.7 (396); 4. Anjali Vedpathak 498.5 (396); 5. Poornima Gawhane 496.7 (395); 8. Anuja Tere 494.4 (394); Team: 1. India (Anjali 396, Suma 396, Anuja 394) 1186; 2. Denmark 1185, 3. Japan 1180.
Juniors: 1. Imai Naoko (Jpn) 399; 2. Mari Arnevall (Swe) 395; 3. C. Mikkelsen (Den) 393; 4. Meena Kumari 393; 24T. Raj Kumari 382.
Air pistol: 1. Siv M. Levhaug (Nor) 481 (383); 2. Karen Hansen (Den) 479.6 (378); 3. Shilpi Singh 479.3 (380).
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