Harveen Srao sets two new records, 5 more shooting Gold for India

Colombo, Aug 25 (UNI) Harveen Srao went trigger-happy at the 10th SAF Games, winning both the team and individual Gold in women's 10m Air Pistol events with record-breaking efforts at the Sri lanka Navy Base Shooting range at Welisara today.

In the individual event, the ace markswoman shot 382 (96,94,96,96) in qualifications and fired 98.5 (10.5,9.8,9.8,9.7,10.4) in the finals to aggregate 480.5.

Her Gold winning effort also saw her eclipse the previous Games record, held by Shweta Choudhuary, who had totalled 477.5 in Islamabad. In the process, Harveen also bettered Shweta's qualification record of 381 today.

Compatriot Nasheen Fatima (377+97.6) finished with Silver at 474.6, ahead of Paikstani Mehwushi Maqsood (470.2).

Earlier, in the 10m Air Pistol team event, the Indian trio of Harveen (382), Navsheen Fatima (377) and Shilpi Singh (369) were bang on target as they aggregated 1128 that not only earned them the Gold but also erased the Indian team's 2004 record of 1112, created in the Islamabad edition of the Games.

Pakistan (1109) came a distant second to win the Silver, followed by Sri Lanka (1106).

In women's 50m Rifle three position too, the Indians proved miles ahead of their regional rivals.

In 50m Rifle three position team event, Meena (570), Navdeep Kaur Dhillon (566) and Raj Kumari (566) totalled 1706 to walk away with the Gold. Pakistani markswomen finished with the Silver at 1665, while the hosts bagged the Bronze with an aggregate of 1659.

In the individual section of the event, Meena won the Gold with a total of 663.5 after shooting 570 (195,187,188) in qualifications and 93.5 in the final. Navdeep finished second at 658.3 to land Silver, while Sri Lankan Devika Ranasinghe (657) managed Bronze.

India's flag-bearer in the Games Ashok Pandit also fetched a Gold, winning the 25m Centre Fire Pistol event.

Pandit shot 286 (95,95,96) in precision and 284 (91,97,96) in rapid to total 570 for the Gold. Pakistani marksmen Muhammad Boota (567) and Maqbool Hussain Tabassum (565) shared the Silver and Bronze between themselves.

The only setback was in 25m Centre Fire Pistol team event where India finished second best, behind Pakistan (1695). The Indian trio of Ashok Pandit (570), Mahaveer Singh (563) and Kanchan Gurung (549) came up with a below-par show to total 1682 and finish with the Silver. Sri Lanka got the Bronze in the event.

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