Indian shooters bag three golds at SAG

The Indian shooting contingent got off to a winning start at the South Asian Games (SAG) by grabbing three of the four gold medals on offer at the shooting event here on Wednesday.

Rio 2016 Olympics bound top Indian woman Air Rifle specialist Apurvi Chandela won the gold easily in her 10-metre event. Apurvi bagged a double when she teamed up with Pooja Ghatkar and Elizabeth Susan Koshy to win the team gold in the event.

The other gold medal came in the men's 50m Pistol team event which was won by the trio of Omkar Singh, Prakash Nanjappa and Om Prakash.

In the women's 10m Air Rifle event, India bagged the top three places in qualifying with Apurvi shooting 419.8, Pooja 417.7 and Elizabeth 411 respectively to reach the final.

Their combined score of 1248.5 for the team gold was way out of reach of the second placed Sri Lanka who shot a total of 1218.4.

The bronze went to Bangladesh who put up a combined total of 1215.7.

Apurvi then ensured that she won. Elizabeth and Pooja, however, swapped positions to win the silver and bronze, respectively, thereby ensuring a clean sweep for India in the event. Apurvi shot 209 in the finals while Elizabeth ended with 207.1 and Pooja 185.9.

In the men's 50m Pistol, the Indian trio of Omkar, Prakash and Om Prakash ensured the team won gold with a combined total of 1622.

The silver medal-winning Pakistan outfit logged a total of 1583 while Bangladesh won bronze with a total of 1575.

In the individual event, Sakil Ahmed of Bangladesh, who scored 187.6 won gold, outgunning Om Prakash, who scored of 187.3, to win the silver.

The bronze went to Pakistan's Kalimullah Khan who scored 165.9.