Asian Airgun Championships 2015: Abhinav Bindra wins gold in the 10 metre air rifle event

Abhinav Bindra claimed gold in the Men’s 10 M air rifle event

The 8th Asian Airgun Championships witnessed Abhinav Bindra winning the Men’s 10 meter air rifle event, with Gagan Narang and Chain Singh coming fourth and sixth place respectively. India’s first individual Olympic gold medallist secured the gold medal with a score of 208.3 points, establishing his calibre. Yuriy Yurkov of Kazakhstan won the silver with a score of 206.6, far ahead of South Korean bronze medallist, Jaechul Yu, who scored 185.3 points.

Olympic bronze medallist Gagan Narang missed the podium with a score of 164.5 points and Chain Singh shot 122.5 for sixth place. With this performance, the Indian shooters won the team gold in the Men’s 10 meter air rifle event. South Korea won the team silver while Saudi Arabia settled for a collective bronze medal. Bindra’s score was impressively close to the world record of 210.5 points.

Fifteen-year-old prodigy Satyajeet Khandol won the gold medal in the 10 meter Men’s Youth event, adding another feather cap in India’s cap. The Haryana lad, who is in his first tournament, remained self-possessed to gain a one point lead before the final shot. He needed a 10 point shot in his last attempt, but managed less, setting up a nail-biting finish with Shao Chuan Lu of Chinese Taipei. The latter needed a ten-point shot too, to win the event, but caved in to the pressure and had to settle for the silver. Iranian shooter Abbasali Davoud Abadi claimed the bronze medal.

Bindra, Narang and Singh have qualified for next year’s Rio Olympics. This is the first international shooting event to be held in India in five years, the last time being the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.