Commonwealth Shooting Championships: Gagan Narang bags silver

New Delhi: London Olympics bronze-medalist Gagan Narang Commonwealth Shooting Championships clinched a silver medal in the men's 50m rifle prone event of the Commonwealth Shooting Championships in Gold Coast in Brisbane, Australia on Thursday.

Youngster Swapnil Kusale won Bronze in the same event for India. Also among the medals for India was the experienced Annu Raj Singh, securing the women's 25m pistol bronze.

On day three of competitions, India's medal hunt started with men's rifle prone, when both Gagan and and Swapnil qualified for the eight-man final. Gagan shot 617.6 after 60 shots while Swapnil actually outshot his more decorated teammate with a score of 619.1, to finish third to Gagan's fourth. Eventual Gold medalist, Dane Sampson of Australia topped qualifying with a Commonwealth record of 624.3.

Sushil Ghalay, India's third contestant, shot 614.1 to finish 10th among the 22 participants.

In the final, Swapnil was again the stronger to start, briefly leading after the 10thshot and while Dane steered clear of the field after the 18th shot of the 24-shot final, Gagan and Swapnil continued to duel for the second and third places, before Gagan finally clinched it after the 22ndshot. Dane registered a winning score of 247.7, Gagan ended with 246.3 while Swapnil shot 225.6.

In the women's 25m pistol, 10m air pistol gold medallist Heena Sidhu  was among three Indians who qualified for the final. Annu Raj Singh however was the best placed Indian in qualifying with a score of 578 giving her the second spot in qualifying. Teammate Rahi Sarnobat had the same score but finished third in qualifying on countback. Heena qualified in fifth place shooting 571.