Rai wins gold, Narang silver as shooters continue domination

'Pistol King' Jitu Rai kept his reputation intact by clinching the gold medal while the seasoned Gagan Narang and Gurpal Singh claimed a silver each as shooters continued their heroics to add three more medals to India's kitty on the fifth day of competitions in the 20th Commonwealth Games here today.

The 26-year-old Rai, world number 4 in the event, gave ample display of his class by taking the honour in the men's 50 m pistol event as the Indian shooters continued to dominate the ranges.

Gurpal Singh also took the spotlight with his silver-winning effort in the same event while Narang, taking part for the first time in the 50 m rifle prone event, had to be content with a silver as the shooters did the bulk of the medal shopping during the day.

With the addition of three more medals, India's overall medal haul swelled to 25 with seven gold, 11 silver and seven bronze medals and were currently placed fourth in the medal standings.

Australia were at the top with 27 gold, 21 silver and 27 bronze medals, followed by England (24 gold, 17 silver, 19 bronze) and hosts Scotland (12 gold, eight silver and 11 bronze).

Rai shot 194.1 to bag his first Commonwealth Games gold on debut while Gurpal had an aggregate of 187.2 to win the silver, his first international medal. Australia's Daniel Repacholi was third.

With the three medals, India's medal tally from the Barry Buddon Shooting Center has shot up to 12 (4, 7, 1), three more than England who have eight including three gold medals.

Nepal-born Rai, who won a gold (in 10m air pistol) and a silver (in 50m pistol) in the World Cup last month, was third in the first series but then recovered quickly and led the field throughout after that.