ISSF

Published on 15 Apr 2009

50m Rifle 3 Positions M – India’s Narang grabbed gold at the last shot

issf-logo
Marco Dalla Dea

“I am still learning!” said Gagan NARANG of India, right before shooting the 50m Rifle 3 Positions Gold medal at the ISSF world cup in Changwon, Korea. Narang secured gold on the very last shot, when his opponent, Korea’s HAN, shot a fatal 7.3

India’s shooter Gagan NARANG won today’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions men final, the last event of the ISSF World Cup in Changwon, Korea. He shot a total of 1264.0 points (1166+98.0) to win his first gold medal in this event “I think this is the first time that an Indian shooter wins Gold in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions event, within the ISSF frame – said Narang right after the awarding ceremony – I made into three different final and I gained two medals, throughout this world cup stage. I think this is quite an achievement!”

Narang secured gold at the last shot, after his opponent HAN Jinseop of Korea had score a fatal 7.3 “I had just scored in the eighth ring, but I saw on his monitor that he had shot in the seventh. Pressure was high, but I took a deep breath and I fired that winning 10.0”. HAN, who had been leading the match right to the last shot, had no chances to recover from his fatal mistake, and finished in second place, winning Silver with a total score of 1261.9 points (1165+96.9).  

Narang had already won a Bronze medal in the 10m Air Rifle final, here at the ISSF 1st World Cup Stage in Changwon, the 10th of April, and entered the 50m Rifle Prone match. He says of himself to be an expert 10m Air Rifle shooter “But I am still learning the 50 meters events! I am happy that I made in all the three finals, here in Changwon. I will try to keep on shooting good rounds in Beijing, at the next world cup stage.” Said Narang, who is travelling to the next world cup stage, held on the lines of the Olympic Shooting Range of Beijing.

Today’s Bronze medal went to Russia’s Alexei KAMENSKI, 26-year old, who finished in third place after loosing the leadership he had gained through the qualifications. The young athlete had never participated in an ISSF world cup stage, before.

China entered two athletes into the final match, the 22-year old ZHANG Senmao and the 26-year old ZHANG Lei (the 2006 World Championship Bronze medallist). They finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively, preceding the second Indian finalist Sanjeev RAJPUT, who closed in sixth place.

Ole Magnus BAKKEN, the 20-year old Rifle shooter of Norway who had won Bronze in the prone event, finished in seventh place, followed by the first time participants Fedor VLASOV of Russia.