Indian shooters continued to dominate proceedings at the Karni Singh Range with Gagan Narang winning his fourth gold medal, after Vijay Kumar and Harpreet Singh gave the hosts a bright start by bagging the honour in the centerfire event at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi on Saturday.
Gagan, who fired an impressive 1262.2 to clinch the gold in 50-metre rifle 3 positions event, is now well and truly on his way to bag six medals in the Games. Thanks to his feat, Gagan has now become the first male athlete to win four medals in this edition of the Games.
Narang and Abhinav Bindra kicked off India gold-glut at the Games, firing a record 1193 in the men's 10m air rifle pair event.
Narang then beat Bindra to win the gold medal and successfully defend his 10 metres air rifle men's title.
His purple patch continued, as the ace marksman combined with Imran Hasan Khan to win the pairs 50-metre rifle 3 positions event on the fifth day of competition. The Indian duo beat England's James Huckle and Kenny Parr, scoring a Games record 2325 in the final.
And, his fourth gold followed on Saturday with a personal best in the 50 metres Rifles 3 positions.
In the women's field, Suma Shirur and Kavita Yadav had to be content with the bronze in the 10-metre air rifle event as Malaysia's Ayuni Halim and Nur Suryani bagged the yellow metal.
There was, however, disappointment for Shreyashi Singh and Seema Tomar as they finished a lowly fifth and ninth respectively in women's singles trap event, in which England's Anita North clinched the gold medal, ahead of Scotland's Shona Marshall and Namibian Gaby Ahrens.
Scotland's Jonathan Hammond (1255.3) bagged the bronze in the event in which Gagan featured while James Huckle of England claimed bronze with a score of 1254.9.
In stage 1 of men's singles trap, there was a surprise as South African Martin Davis stunned a star-studded field to round off the stage in lead. The South African, ranked 69 in the world, scored a perfect 75 out of a possible 75 after successfully hitting every target in the three-round session.
India's Mansher Singh, England's Aaron Heading and Australian Adam Vella were tied on 74 points for the second postion.
In full bore events that started on Saturday at the CRPF campus in Khadarpur, making its debut in this format of sport, had a forgettable day. Sushil Ghaley finished 32nd with 79.6 while Praveen Dahiya, who shot 77.3, finished two places below, at 34, in events dominated by South African and Wales.
Earlier at the Karni range, the duo of Kumar and Harpreet started the day on a high note for India, winning the gold medal in men's 25m centerfire pistol pairs event.
Vijay and Harpreet shot an impressive 1159 to bag the top prize, ahead of New Zealand's Greg Yelavich and Alan Earle, who won the silver. Singapore's Lip Meng Poh and Bin Gai grabbed the bronze.
Singapore's Ser Xiang Wei Jasmine and Cheng Jian Huan bagged the bronze medal.
"I am naturally delighted to win my first gold at the Commonwealth Games. I dedicate it to the Indian Navy and my senior officers. Without their support, I wouldn't have made it," said Harpreet after bagging the top prize.
Asked about the competition he and his partner faced from New Zealand's Poh and Gai, Harpreet said, "It was a very tough and it was difficult to perform in front of the home crowd. But I was well prepared for the Games."
Vijay credited coach Smirnov Pavel for his success. "Whenever there is a problem, he was there to help us," said Vijay.
However, woman shooter Shirur was disappointed not to have won the gold medal. "We could have done better. In fact we were hoping for a better showing but I guess it just wasn't our day," Suma said after her event.
On her teammate Kavitha, Suma said, "She is down with a fever and is also suffering cold and cough. It's not easy to shoot if you are not fit physically."
