Vijay strikes gold at Asian C'ships
Vijay Kumar notched up India's fifth gold medal at the Asian Shooting Championship by finishing on top in Standard Pistol here today but there was no Olympic Quota place for the country as the event does not feature in the quadrennial extravaganza.
The Army man, who has already won a quota place for India in the Rapid Fire category, shot a score of 572/600 to tie for the lead with Yongde Jin of China.
However, Kumar's tally of 17 inner tens to Jin's 15 helped him bag the gold.
Kumar started with a score of 98 in the first series of 150 seconds for 10 shots. His scores dipped in the 20-second and the 10-second series and he reached the halfway mark at 284, two points behind the Chinese who tallied 286.
Vijay performed better in the second series with a tally of 288. Jin was in the lead but then had a disastrous score of 93 in the final 10-second series which saw him finish alongside Vijay.
The bronze was won by Tomohiro Kida of Japan, who shot 568.
But the other two Indian shooters in fray put up a disappointing show and were nowhere in contention for a podium finish. Samresh Jung shot 552 to finish 16th, while Mahavir Singh finished 24th with a score of 542. Those low scores ended India's hopes of a team medal as well.
They finished fifth after a combined score of 1666/1800. The gold was won by China with a total of 1695 while Thailand surprised everyone by clinching the silver with a tally of 1683 points.
Japan rounded of the podium finishers with a score of 1680
