India dominate in shooting; win nine medals, including 5 gold

Dhaka: Continuing with their blazing form, Indian shooters had a rich haul of five gold, three silver and

one bronze medal on the sixth day in the 11th South Asian Games on Wednesday. India thus have won seven gold, four silver and three bronze medals in shooting. On the opening day of the shooting event yesterday, the Indians bagged two gold, one silver and two bronze medals. The Indians shot to glory in five of the six categories today as they dominated in the competition held at the range at National Shooting Complex at Gulshan here. The gold medals came through Imran Hasan Khan (10m air rifle), Kuheli Ganguli (50m rifle prone) and Sonia Rai (25m pistol). India also won two team gold medals through the women`s 25m pistol comprising Sonia, Sushma Rana and Divya Singh, and women`s 50m rifle prone trio of Kuheli, Ruby Garg and Hema Khatri Chetri. The Indian shooters made a clean sweep in the women`s 50m rifle prone individual and 25m pistol events taking all the three pole positions. Sonia shot 576 for the gold medal, while Divya Singh (563) finished second in women`s 25m pistol. Just one point adrift, Sushma Rana had to settle for bronze as the Indian 25m pistol trio clinched top three spots. The combined score of 1701 ensured the trio a team gold. The Lankan trio of Abeymanna, Wejerathne and Pabawathi finished way behind with a total score of 1645 for the silver. Ecstatic with the superb show by the Indians, coach Tejinder Singh Dhillon told PTI, "This is our second string side as the top shooters are busy preparing for the World Cup and Commonwealth Games. "I am really impressed with the young talents. This is a first major tournament for Rubi and Divya and the good show will give them confidence in their career ahead," he said. In the women`s 50m rifle prone individual, veteran Indian Kuheli shot an impressive 589 for the gold medal while Rubi was two points behind for the sliver. K G D Pradeepika (582) of Sri Lanka took the bronze. The trio of Kuheli, Rubi and Hema logged 1753 points en route to the team gold in the women`s 50m rifle prone. Sri Lankan trio of Pradeepika, RPDNPW Kumari and HKRP Ramani (1739) took silver, while Bangladesh`s Sarmin Shilpa, Sabrina Sultana and Tripti Datta (1723) won the bronze. Earlier, Army shooter Imran hogged the limelight with a score of 697.3 to win gold in the men`s 10m air rifle. Bangladesh duo of Asif Hossain Khan (694.4) and Shovon Chowhdury (690.3) took the silver and bronze respectively. But in the men`s 10m air rifle team event, the Indian trio of Khan, Satyender Singh and Dhirender Singh Jamwal finished behind the Bangladeshi side to settle for silver. The Indians scored 1764, while Bangladesh trio of Asif Hossain Khan, Abdulla Hel Baki and Shovon took the gold with an accumulative score of 1775. PTI