Shooters Bindra, Narang misfire in World Cup

Rio Olympics-bound shooters Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang on Thursday finished respectively sixth and seventh in the 10-metre Air Rifle final at the ongoing International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup here.

Narang, who had missed the 10m event in the Munich World Cup last month due to a heel injury, fired 123.1 points while Bindra finished with a disappointing 102.3 to be at the penultimate spot in the final.

Nepejchal Filip of the Czech Republic secured 206.8 points to clinch the gold medal while Iran's Bagheri Hossein and Israel's Sergy Rikhter fired 206.2 and 184.6 to settle for the silver and bronze respectively.

This was Bindra's last World Cup before he retires from the sport on August 8, when the shooting events at the upcoming Rio Olympics conclude.

Promising Kynan Chenai, who will go for his first Olympics in August, also reached the men's Trap final where only the top six qualify.

He shot a superb 123 out of 125 to qualify for the finals in second place. In the final rounds, he was the first to be eliminated, having shot 12 birds out of 15 to end in sixth place.

This was Kynan's second World Cup final round appearance in Trap and it comes at a good time of the year, just one month ahead of the Olympics, which is sure to boost his confidence even more.

National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) President Raninder Singh said, "It is very encouraging that all three of our finalists today led from the front in qualifying. It shows that their preparation graph for the upcoming Rio Olympics is peaking at the right time. These are good signs."

Among the other Indians in the fray on day two, Chain Singh in the men's 10m Air Rifle, who will also be taking the flight to Rio, shot a subdued 623.7 to finish in 25th place.

Prithviraj Tondaiman also finished in 25th place, in men's Trap however, having shot a score of 116 in qualifying. The third Indian in the category Zoravar Singh Sandhu, shot the same score to finish 27th.

In the day's third medal event, the women's 10m Air Pistol, Heena Sidhu shot 379 in qualifying to finish in 26th spot, while compatriot Shweta Singh shot 376 to end in 39th place. Anisa Sayed shot 369 in the same event to end in 54th position.

--IANS

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