Abhnav Bindra bags Gold, earns Beijing Olympic quota place

New Delhi, July 24 (UNI) Young marksman Abhinav Bindra grabbed the Gold and bagged a Beijing Olympic quota berth after finishing first in the men's 10m Air Rifle event at the ISSF World Shooting Championships at Zagreb, Croatia today.

Bindra thus became the fifth Indian shooter to book his Beijing berth. Others who have already achieved their passage to Beijing are Gagan Narang, Anjali Bhagwat, Manavjit Singh Sandhu and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.

Bindra today shot 597 (100,99,100,100,99,99) in the preliminary and then fired 102.1 in the finals to total 699.1 for the top slot, according to information received here.

Bindra thus became India's first World Champion in the 10m Air Rifle event.

Gagan Narang finished 31st with a score of 592 (99,100,99,99,96,99) while Sanjeev Rajput finished 37th with a score of 591 (98,98,98,97,100,100).

The Silver in this event was won by George Alin Moldoveanu of Rome with a score of 698.3 (597+101.3) while the Bronze was won by Qinan Zhu of China with a score of 697.9 (595+102.9).

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