Shooters just manage a gold, 2 silver; Zakir bags silver in lifing

Melbourne, Mar 19: Only Pemba Tamang and Vijay Kumar lived up to their reputation amongst the Indian shooters as they clinched day's solitary gold for the country even as big names like Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and seasoned Anjali Bhagwat disappointed with silver apiece while Mohd Zakir Asadullah lifted 301 kg to finish second on the podium.

So far the Indians have bagged 15 medals with eight golds, six silvers and one bronze, and the paddlers have assured the country of atleast another silver by storming into the finals.

In shooting, India figured in four of the five events this morning and finished with one gold and two silvers and ended fourth in women's 10m Air Pistol pairs event.

The Indians had won three golds and a silver in these four events in Manchester Games.

Pemba Tamang and Vijay Kumar totalled 1134 to win the gold in the 25m Rapid Fire pistol pairs. Australian pair of David Chapman and Bruce Favell bagged silver with 1116 while Metodi Igorov and Yuri Movshovich representing Canada earned bronze with 1111 points.

However, the much anticipated men's double trap pairs event, featuring Athens Olympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Vikram Bhatnagar, turned out to be a wee bit disappointing as the fancied pair finished seven points behind the winners scoring 179 to settle for siver.

Australian pair of Mark Russell and Craig William Trembath made a new games record by shooting a total of 186 for the gold.

England's Richard Faulds and Steven Walton totalled 176 for the bronze.

Rathore was not in his elements and the famed shooter missed five targets in his first series and six in his second to end up with 89 (44, 45).

Vikram had a first series of 46 and then shot 44 in his next for a total of 90 and that fetched the pair a silver.

The other silver medal winners were Anjali Bhagwat and Anuja Jung in women's 50m Rifle three position pairs. Sonia Rana and Harveen Sraoo finished fourth in women's 10m Air Pistol pairs.

In weightlifting, Tamil Nadu's Mohd Zakir Asadullah braved an injury to lift 301 kg to give India a silver medal in the 77 kg category.

With this medal, the Indian tally in weightlifting has gone up to six -- two gold, three silver and a bronze.

Majeti Fetrie of Ghana won the gold amid high drama as he lifted 309 kg while Pakistani Mohammad Irfan finished third for a bronze with 299 kg.

Meanwhile in table tennis, Indian men up staged Nigeria 3-2 in a nerve-wracking tie to storm into the final thus assuring atleast a silver to the country. Eves on the other hand, had a 3-0 white wash against Singapore in the semifinals. In the men's event, Nigeria started off with an easy win when their star player Segun Toriola overwhelmed Soumyadeep Roy in straight sets 12-10, 11-6, 11-8. However, top ranked Indian Achanta Sharath Kamal drew parity by defeating Kazeem Nasiru 7-11, 13-11, 11-5, 13-11.

Shubhajit Saha then put India ahead edging past Monday Merotohun 5-11, 12-10, 7-11, 11-9, 11-8. But the Nigerians faught back and Segun Toriola defeated Sharath 11-8, 11-4, 11-9 to make it 2-2.

Soumyadeep Roy, however, found his touch in time and put India in finals by defeating Kazeem Nasiru 15-12, 11-7, 11-8.

Elsewhere, it was heartbreak for Saina Nehwal as despite her heroics, India went down 2-3 to England in the see-saw semifinal of the badminton team event.

National champion Saina slayed two top players of the world in the quarterfinal and semifinal to raise hope for India's upset entry into the final but that was not to be.

In the quarterfinals, India outplayed fancied Singapore 3-1 and it was Saina Nehwal who led the team's victory charge by shocking world number 12 Li Li 21-15, 21-14 in 32 minutes.

In the semifinal, the English side started with a win when their mixed pair James Robertson and Gali Elizeabeth outlasted V Diju and Trupti Murgunde in straight games 21-10, 21-7.

However, National Champion Anup Sridhar drew parity by thrashing Aamir Ghaffar 21-15, 21-14. The prodigious Saina then took the court against world number nine Tracey Jayne Hallam and played long rallies to tire her rival.

In the edge-of-the-seat encounter, Saina outplayed Tracey 23-21, 21-15 to put India up 2-1. However, Indian men and women doubles pairs lost their matches and in the process their hope of making it to the finals were dashed.

In boxing, meanwhile, it turned out to be a good outing for the Indian pugilists as the trio of Ajay Kumar (81 kg) , Vijender (69 kg), V Johnson (91 kg plus) decimated their opponents to advance to the quarterfinals. The only casualty in the event was Sunjoy Singh Mayengbam surprisingly losing to Darren John Langley on points 20-12 in 91 kg category.

The athletics competition also got under way today and ace Indian shot putter Vikas Gowda qualified for the next round with a season's best throw of 18.37m while runner Manjit Kaur made it to the women's 400m semifinals next level after being second among the fastest losers.

The cagers also put up a much better show before going down to Scotland 57-67 in their second league match in the men's basketball event.

Indian swimmers, meanwhile, found themselves in troubled waters again and while Shikha Tandon failed to go beyond the semifinals in both the 50m backstroke and 50m freestyle, her compatriots were ousted even in the heats.

Puneet Rana (30.93s) was a poor sixth in 50m Breaststroke heat, while Arjun Muralidharan (56.74s) proved another also-ran, finishing at the same position in men's 100m butterfly.

Rehan Poncha, in men's 400m individual medley, was eliminated after clocking 4:46.79s to finish fifth in the heat.

In 100m freestyle heat for the Elite Athletes with Disabilities (EAD), K Pande was eliminated after clocking 1:36.88s to finish fourth in the heat.

In synchronised swimming, 15-year-old Avani Kardam Dave managed only 23.667 points to bring up the rear among six participants.

UNI