Gangan Narang is World No 1 in 10m Air Rifle

New Delhi, Apr 5 (UNI) After winning medals galore for the country in Melbourne Commonwealth Games and World Cup in China, ace marksman Gagan Narang created history today by becoming world number one in 10m Air Rifle event.

Narang recently won a gold in the same event at the ISSF World Cup in Guangzhou and booked a berth in the Beijing Olympics. The feat propelled him to a whopping 18 places in the rankings and he becomes third Indian shooter after Anjali Bhagwat and Rajyavardhan Rathore to reach the top spot in the world.

Uncannily consistent, Narang had won four gold medals in Melbourne Games.

However, the prodigious shooter has his head firm on his shoulders and knows it will still take a lot to materialise his dream of winning an Olympic gold medal.

''There is still a long way to go before the Olympics.

Achievements bring responsibilty as well and I am aware of that. For now I am focussing on the upcoming events which includes the World Cup in Brazil next month,'' a visibly elated Narang told UNI.

Meanwhile, Narang made it clear that he would not be gunning for medals in the 10m Rifle event in next month's World Cup in Brazil so as to give other shooters a chance to qualify for Beijing.

''I have already qualified and there is no point in eating up somebody else's place. So I will participate (in 10m Air Rifle) in minimum qualifying score (MQS) just for practice and maintain my rankings,'' he said on the sidelines of a luncheon organised by IOA in the capital.

Among fellow shooters, Abhinav Bindra also jumped three places to climb up to the 15th spot after his ninth place finish at the China World Cup while Kuheli Gangulee also shot up to 20th positon in the world due to her 8th place finish at Guangzhou.

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