World number two Gagan Narang became the first Indian to qualify for 2012 London Olympics after shooting bronze in the 10 metre air rifle event while compatriot Abhinav Bindra failed to qualify for final round in the 50th World Championship in Munich.
Narang shot 597 (100, 100, 100, 99, 99, 99) to finish fifth in qualification round and make it to the final round.
Narang was tied with three others on the same score of 597 in the qualification round on the opening day of the event.
In the final round, Narang held on to his nerves to shoot a score of 102, which helped him bag bronze in a strong field of 128 shooters.
However, Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra finished a disappointing 25th in the qualification round.
Bindra shot 593 (99, 99, 100, 99, 98, 98), but failed to qualify for the final round. Bindra had previously won gold in the last edition in 2006 at Zagreb.
The third Indian shooter, Imran Hassan Khan finished 49th with a score of 590 (96, 98, 99, 98, 99, 100).
The gold went to Italian Niccolo Campriani, who shot a total of 702.5 (599+103.5) while Hungarian Peter Sidi bagged the silver with 700.4 points (599+101.4).
"Bindra finished on the podium of the last World Championship in 2006. I am happy that another Indian has made it to the medals here in Munich," said an elated Narang after winning bronze.
"I have been struggling with the equipment in the last months, but now it's ok. I am ready to go for the Games," Narang added.
In the team event, the Indian trio of Narang, Bindra and Hassan Khan finished fourth with a combined score of 1780/1800. The gold went to China with a score of 1787, while Russia (1787) and Italy (1782) bagged silver and bronze respectively.
