Anuja Jung, Vijay Kumar win gold; Pemba Tamang grabs silver

Melbourne, Mar 23 (UNI) Anuja Jung followed in the footsteps of her husband, Samaresh Jung, and won the gold in the 50m Rifle three position as the Indian shooters' golden pursuit continued with pistol man Vijay Kumar also grabbing a gold in the Commonwealth Games here today.

The 35-year-old Anuja ensured that Jungs continued their domination of the shooting range here when she shot down the gold with a total of 670.7. Pre-tournament favourite and defending champion Anjali Bhagwat finished fifth with 666.3.

This was Anuja's second medal in the competition, having earlier won a silver with Anjali in the pair event of the 50m Rifle three position.

For the sixth day in a row, a Jung was on the podium to receive the gold. Anuja did not let her husband's absence being felt as she shot to glory and claimed the title . Samaresh, who has so far won five gold had an off day today. The CISF officer will return to action tomorrow.

''The Jungs seemed to have captured the ranges,'' said an official adding, ''There seems to be no stopping the Indian National Anthem,'' as NRAI official Rajiv Bhatia watched the reaction of the official with a glee.

So far, the Jungs have garnered eight medals -- six gold and two silvers.

Meanwhile, in the men's 25 m Rapid Fire Pistol Vijay Kumar won the gold with a new Games record of 778.2, while team mate Pemba Tamang claimed the silver in 775.0.

However, in women's 10 m Air Pistol, Harveen Srao finished fifth and other Indian in the fray, Snia Rana, failed to qualify for the finals.

Earlier, Anuja and Anjali shot 574 and 570 respectively, in the preliminary rounds, to qualify for the finals along with six others from a field of 23 shooters.

The preliminary round was led by South African Esmari Reenen Van with 576 but in the final she was pipped by Anuja and had to settle for a silver, while Malaysian Binti Suryani Nur took the bronze.

Anuja shot 195 in Prone (98, 97), 189 in Standing (93, 96) and 190 in Kneeling (94, 96) for her 574.

Anjali had 193 in Prone (98, 95), 188 in Standing (94, 94) and 189 in Kneeling (93, 96) to aggregate 570.

The finals went to wire as Anuja came up with a disciplined performance and fought back Esmari's determined challenge.

Watched by husband Samaresh, Anuja fired a stunning series of 9.5, 10.3, 10.1, 9.0, 9.7, 10.1, 9.9, 9.4, 10.7 and 8.0 to total 96.7. Esmari's score was 8.3, 9.6, 9.7, 10.6, 9.3, 8.9, 9.7, 7.7, 10.5 and 9.7 for a total of 94.0. She had an overall score of 670 (576, 94) for a silver while Suryani took bronze with 668 (576, 92).

Anjali's final series was 9.9, 9.7, 9.7, 9.1, 10.7, 10.2, 9.4, 8.5, 9.5 and 9.6 for a total of 96.3 but her preliminary round of 570 pulled her down to fifth place.

''It is just a great feeling,'' Anuja said. ''I am happy that I continued for Samaresh on his off day,'' she added.

More UNI HSB PM SSC1132