Bindra to receive Commonwealth Games baton

22 July 2009. Beijing Olympic Gold medallist Abhinav Bindra will be the first Indian baton bearer of the 2010 Commonwealth Games and will receive it from Queen Elizabeth II in London on 29 October 2009.

"It is indeed a great honour and pride for India," Bindra said.

Abhinav Bindra

Indian President Pratibha Patil will also be present in the ceremony as she has accepted the invitation of Queen of England.

The Queen's Baton Relay, which has been a curtain raiser for Commonwealth games since 1958, will kick off from London and it will cover 70 nations and territories with fleeting through 28 states, seven Union Territories and two island territories of India.

The Queen's Baton Relay is a curtain raiser to every Commonwealth Games since 1958. The baton relay will take off from London on October 29 and will cover 70 nations.

On arrival at the opening ceremony in Delhi, the baton would have traveled over 190,000 km over 340 days and this will make the Baton Relay one of the longest in the history of the Commonwealth Games.

The relay will conclude with the final baton-bearer entering the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium during the Opening Ceremony of the Games on October 3,2010

21 gold salute to India at South Asian Shooting

21 gold salute to India at South Asian Shooting
9 July 2009. The 5th South Asian Shooting Championship concluded with the women's 50m rifle three position event on Thursday.
This was the only event played on the closing day in which India's ace shooter Tejaswini Sawant claimed the individual gold with a score of 571, silver was won by Sabrina Sultana of Bangladesh who shot 570, just a point less than Sawant. The bronze was won by Tripti Dutta also from Bangladesh with a score of 568. Another Indian shooter Meena Kumari was placed at fourth position with a score of 567.
The hosts Bangladesh put together 1703 points to win the gold. Tejaswani Sawant, Meena Kumari and Navdeep Kaur of India won the silver scoring 1702 points. Pakistani markswomen Nazish Khan, Nosheen and Nadia collected 1633 points to win the bronze.
India wins 21 out of 24 golds
In this week long competition out of 24 gold medals and altogether 72 medals, Indian shooters captured the top spot with a record 21 gold, 11 silver and 5 bronze medals.
Pakistan finished as the distant runners-up with two gold, five silver and nine bronze medals. Bangladesh edge past Sri Lanka with one gold, six silver and six bronze medals for the third position spot. Sri Lankan were the distant fourth with two silver and four Bronze medals. Bhutan shooters will returned home empty handed as they failed to earn any medal.
This competition started on July 4th and concluded today with 90 shooters taking part in this meet.

21 gold salute to India at South Asian Shooting

21 gold salute to India at South Asian Shooting
9 July 2009. The 5th South Asian Shooting Championship concluded with the women's 50m rifle three position event on Thursday.
This was the only event played on the closing day in which India's ace shooter Tejaswini Sawant claimed the individual gold with a score of 571, silver was won by Sabrina Sultana of Bangladesh who shot 570, just a point less than Sawant. The bronze was won by Tripti Dutta also from Bangladesh with a score of 568. Another Indian shooter Meena Kumari was placed at fourth position with a score of 567.
The hosts Bangladesh put together 1703 points to win the gold. Tejaswani Sawant, Meena Kumari and Navdeep Kaur of India won the silver scoring 1702 points. Pakistani markswomen Nazish Khan, Nosheen and Nadia collected 1633 points to win the bronze.
India wins 21 out of 24 golds
In this week long competition out of 24 gold medals and altogether 72 medals, Indian shooters captured the top spot with a record 21 gold, 11 silver and 5 bronze medals.
Pakistan finished as the distant runners-up with two gold, five silver and nine bronze medals. Bangladesh edge past Sri Lanka with one gold, six silver and six bronze medals for the third position spot. Sri Lankan were the distant fourth with two silver and four Bronze medals. Bhutan shooters will returned home empty handed as they failed to earn any medal.
This competition started on July 4th and concluded today with 90 shooters taking part in this meet.

Medal Results- South Asian Shooting 2009,Bangladesh- 4/7-10/7

Women's 50m Rifle Three Position: 1. Tejaswini Sawant 571, 2. Sabrina Sultana (Ban) 570, 3. Tripti Dutta (Ban) 568
Team: 1. Bangladesh (1703), 2. India (1702), 3. Pakistani (1633)
Women's 10m Air Pistol: 1. Harveen Srao (Ind) 479.5, 2. Mehush Mashud (Pak), 3. Heena Shidu (Ind)
Team: 1. India (1131), 2. Bangladesh (1095), 3. Sri Lanka (1092)
Men's 25m Standard Pistol: 1. Ashok Pandit (Ind) 566, Vijay Kumar (Ind) 561, 3. Mustakim Shah (Pak) 551.
Team: 1. India (1677), 2. Pakistan (1638), 3. Bangladesh (1403).
Men's Skeet: 1. Raza Munir (Pak) 114/125, 2. Miraj Khan (Ind) 112, 3. Ahmed Usman (Pak) 110
Team: 1. Pakistan, 2. India, 3. Bangladesh.
Men's 50m Rifle Three Position: Sanjeev Rajput (1165), 2. Imran Hassan Khan (Ind) 1150, 3. SMS Samarakun (Sri)1142
Team: 1. Indian (3437), 2. Bangladesh (3358), 3. Pakistan (3348)
Men's 10m Air Pistol: 1. Gurpreet Singh (Ind) 673.4, 2. Omkar Singh (Ind) 670.1, Kalim Ullah Khan (Pak) 667.4 Team: 1. India (1717), 2. Pakistan (1702), 3. Bangladesh (1646)
Men’s 50m Rifle Prone: 1. Joydeep Karmakar (Ind) 593, 2. Sanjeev Rajput (Ind) 587, 3. Shamsher Singh (Ind) 584
Team: 1. India (1764), 2. Pakistan (1733), 3. Bangladesh (1722)
Women's 50m Rifle Prone: 1. Lajja Goswami (Ind) 586, 2. Tejaswini Sawant (Ind) 584, 3. Prodipika (Sri) 583.
Team: 1. India (1752), 2. Sri Lanka (1730), 3. Pakistan (1723)
Women's 10m Air Rifle: 1. Priya Agarwal (Ind) 499.6, 2. Sharmin Akhter Ranta (Bng) 496.5, 3. Lajja Goswami (Ind)494.8 Team: 1. India (1181), 2. Bangladesh (1177), 3. Pakistan (1135).
Men's 50m Free Pistol: 1. Amanpreet Singh (Ind) 555, 2. EM Senanayek (Sri) 553, 3. Samaresh Jung (548) Team: 1. India (1650), 2. Pakistan (1584), 3. Bangladesh (1502)
Men's 10m Air Rifle: 1. PT Ragunath (Ind) 696.7, 2. Sanjeev Rajput (Ind) 695.5, 3. Imran Hassan Khan (Ind) 693.9
Team: 1. India (1780), 2. Bangladesh (1723), 3. Pakistan (1720).

India dominates South Asian Shooting

India dominates South Asian Shooting, bags six more gold
8 July 2009. Favourites India continued their domination to secure six out of eight golds decided on the fourth day, to stay atop of the medals tally with 20 golds, 10 silvers and five bronzes. While Pakistan secured thye other two gold medals, Pakistan maintained their second place in the medal tally with two golds, five silvers and four bronzes. Bangladesh bagged two silvers and three bronzes on Wednesday to raise their medal tally to five silvers and as many bronzes while Sri Lanka secured two silvers and four bronzes to stay in the fourth position. Harveen wins gold in women's air pistol
In the women's 10m air pistol event, India's Harveen Srao bagged gold with a score of 479.5, silver was won by Pakistan's Mehush Mashud while India's Heena Sidhu won the bronze.
India also won the women's air pistol team event with a score of 1131, Bangladesh won the silver with a score of 1095 while Sri Lanka took the bronze scoring 1092 points. Ashok Pandit wins gold in standard pistol
In the 25m standard pistol event, veteran shooter from India, Ashok Pandit shot 566 to claim the gold, Vijay Kumar of India won the silver with a score of 561 while bronze was won by Pakistan's Mustakim Shah who shot 551.
The Indian men's team finished top in the standard pistol team event scoring 1677 points, 39 points clear of the second-placed Pakistan, who made 1638 points. Bangladesh came third with 1403 points. Rajput wins gold in men's three-position
In the men's 50m rifle three position event, gold went to India's Sanjeev Rajput, who scored 1165 points while his compatriot Imran Hassan Khan shot 1150 to win the silver while Sri Lanka's SMS Samarakun finished third with 1142 points.
Indian men's team also bagged gold in the 50m rifle three position team event with a score of 3437 while Bangladesh finished second with a score of 3358. Pakistan bagged bronze with a score of 3348. Silver for Mairaj in men's skeet
Mairaj Khan of India won the silver in the men's skeet event after shooting a score of 112. Pakistan's Raja Munir bagged the gold with a score of 114 while another Pakistani shooter Ahmed Usman won the bronze with a score of 110.
Pakistan bagged gold in the skeet team event while India and Bangladesh finished second and third respectively.

Manavjit Sandhu who won a Bronze in Men's Trap at ISSF World Cup, Minsk, Belarus

ISSF World Cup San Marino officially closed – The Medal Standings

The ISSF Technical Delegate Keith Murray officially closed the last leg of this year’s ISSF World Cup Series. USA won the medal standings, followed by the People’s Republic of China.

The fourth and last leg of the 2009 ISSF Shotgun World Cup Series was officially closed today at the shooting range “La Ciarulla” of San Marino.
The ISSF Technical Delegate for this competitio, Mr. Keith Murray, officially closed the competition, thanking the participants and the organizers of the ISSF World Cup in San Marino.

“In behalf of the ISSF President Mr. Olegario Vazquez Raña and of the ISSF Secretary General Mr. Horst Schreiber, I would like to thank our hosts for the success of this competition” said Mr. Murray.

“A special thanks goes to the San Marino’s authorities, Mr. Fabio Berardi, the Minister of Tourism and Sport of San Marino, and Mr. Angelo Vicini, the President of San Marino’s Natioanl Olympic Committee. Thank you for your support!”

The Overall medal standings:
The United States of America won the overall medal standings of the ISSF World Cup Stage of San Marino, thanks to the Gold medal won by Hadden at today’s Trap Men Final. The USA placed in first with one Gold, one Silver and Bronze medals.

The People’s Republic of China, with the Gold medal won by the first time medallist MO in the Double Trap event, place in second in the overall medal standings with one Gold and one Bronze medals.

Cyprus, Italy and Lithuania followed in third place, with one Gold medal each.

Trap Women – Gudzineviciute (LTU) claimed Gold

he 2000 Olympic Champion Daina Gudzineviciute won today’s Trap Women Gold medal, grabbing her first ISSF World Cup medal ever. Following her, San Marino’s Alessandra Perilli won Silver, lifting the host country on the podium for the first time in this ISSF World Cup stage.

San Marino’s weather changed again, today. Following three rainy and cold days, the sun came back to shine for the first Trap match of this ISSF World Cup stage. The Trap Women final took place in a sunny and warm afternoon, with slight wind coming from the Adriatic see (right/back side of the range), which did not seem to affect the round. The sun shone also for the home athlete PERILLI, who won her first world cup medal ever, lifting the host country, San Marino, the smallest Republic of the World, on the podiu,.
San Marino’s Perilli brought the home country on the podium
The home athlete, San Marino’s 21-year old shooter Alessandra PERILLI, won the applauses of the crowd of spectators by winning the Silver with 87 hits, outdoing China’s LU 6 to 5 hits in a shoot-off for the medal.

“The smallest Republic of the World beats the biggest!” said PERILLI right after the shoot-off, “I am so happy, I struggled at the beginning of the match, but when I understood I was in the shoot-off I said to myself “Alessandra hang on, you cannot miss now! And I made it!”

“I guess I qualified for the World Cup Final. I hadn’t planned it at all!” Concluded the 21-year Alessandra PERILLI, hugged by her older Sister Arianna, shooting for the Italian Federation in this World Cup stage.

The young San Marino’s shooter had made it into the final round in the lead, with a qualification score of 70 hits. Shooting 17 final targets, PERILLI slid back the scoreboard, grabbing Silver at the shoot-off. PERILLI, who had never shot in an ISSF World Cup final round, was the first San Marinense shooter to make it into a final round during this ISSF World Cup Stage in San Marino.

Gold medal to the 2000 Olympic Champion
The 2000 Sydney’s Olympic Champion, Daina GUDZINEVICIUTE of Lithuania, 43-year old, claimed Gold with a total score of 88 (68+20) hits. Incredibly, the Lithuanian champion, competing since 1988, had never won an ISSF World Cup medal before.

China claimed Bronze
The Silver medallist of this year’s World Cup stage of Munich, the 25-year old LU Xingyu of the People’s Republic of China landed in third place, claiming the Bronze medal after loosing the shoot-off for Silver against San Marino’s PERILLI.

The young and talented Chinese shooter debuted in the ISSF World Cup Series this year, making it into three World Cup final rounds (here, in Minsk and in Munich), winning a Silver and a Bronze medal.

Olympic Silver Stefecekova close to the podium
The Olympic Silver medallist of Beijing, Zuzana STEFECEKOVA, went close to the podium, ending up today’s final match in fourth place. The Slovakian shooter, who had walked into the final with a qualification score of 69 targets, lost her chance by missing on her 24th target. She finished in fourth place with a total score of 86 +2 hits after outdoing Czech’s Republic Iveta LOOSOVA in a shoot-off.

Rhode Captures Silver at San Marino World Cup

SAN MARINO - -(ShootingWire.com)- Four-time Olympian Kim Rhode of El Monte, California won her second medal of the 2009 ISSF World Cup Series when she claimed the silver in Women’s Skeet in San Marino.

Rhode, who is the 2008 Olympic silver medalist in Women’s Skeet, shot a qualification score of 65 out of 75 targets to enter the final in third place. At the end of the final, Rhode was tied with 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Christine Brinker of Germany at 88 targets and won the shoot-off to claim the silver, while Brinker took the bronze. The gold medal went to Italy’s Chiara Cainero, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist, who finished with a total of 95 hits.

“It was great to be back on the podium with Brinker and Cainero like at the Games,” Rhode said following her match. “The qualification rounds were kind of difficult because of the rain, but I tried to focus on each target. The final finished in a shoot-off, and shoot-offs are always unnerving, but I shot the best I could.”

Rhode’s U.S. teammates Haley Dunn and Ali Chiang finished in seventh and eighth places today with 64 and 63 targets respectively.

Competition at the San Marino World Cup, which is the fourth and final leg of the 2009 ISSF World Cup Series for Shotgun, continues on Thursday with the Men’s Skeet Final. The Men’s Double Trap event will take place on Saturday, June 20 and the Men’s and Women’s Trap events will conclude the World Cup June 22 and 23.

Skeet Men – World Champion Achilleos leaded the match

Cyprus’ Georgios Achilleos won today’s Skeet Men event competition at the ISSF World Cup stage in San Marino, grabbing the last World Cup Final’s qualification slot. The Cypriot shooter was followed by Kuwait’s Almutairi, and by the Norwegian shooter Brovold.

The reigning Skeet World Champion Georgios ACHILLEOS, 28, from Cyprus, won the Skeet Men competition at the ISSF World Cup in San Marino. The Cypriot shooter placed in first with a total score of 146 targets, after a qualification of 121 targets, and a perfect final of 25 hits.

“It’s great to be back atop of an ISSF podium” Said ACHILLEOS, who had won his last World Cup Gold medal at the 2008 stage of Belgrade. “It has not been easy today. We all struggled with the settings of these target machines.”

“Results speak by themselves: we shot-off to get into the final match with 123 targets, in Munich, and I won today’s match coming from a qualification of 121 hits.” Said the Cypriot champion, who won a Silver medal at the last World Cup stage of Munich.

“I am heading to the Mediterranean Games of Pescara, now. That’s my next biggest event, and I really hope to perform well even there.” Concluded ACHILLEOS, speaking about the Mediterranean Games which will take place starting from the next week.

Zaid ALMUTAIRI, shooting as fast as always, won today’s Silver medal with a total score of 145 targets. The 27-year old Kuwaiti athlete won the second world cup medal of his shooting career by shooting a strong score of 24 targets in the final, after a qualification of 121 hits.

A shoot-off to assign Bronze
The Bronze medal was assigned through a shoot-off, as Norway’s Tore BROVOLD and Germany’s Axel WEGNER ended up the final round with an equal score of 143 targets.

The Olympic Silver medallist BROVOLD won the duel for the podium, claiming Bronze with 8 hits in the shoot-off. The 1998 Olympic Champion WEGNER missed his eighth shoot-off target, shooting himself in fourth place where he landed with a total score of 143 +7 hits.

“I was tired of getting fourth places!” said the Norwegian Champion BROVOLD, smiling after the award ceremony. He had placed in fourth at the last ISSF World Cup stage of Munich “It hasn’t been easy;” He added, commenting on today’s competition; “we have been fighting with range’s settings yesterday and today. I am happy I made it to the podium…”

The second Norwegian finalist, Harald JENSEN, finished in fifth palce with a total score of 142 hits, after outdoing 6 to 5 hits in a shoot-off Denmark’s Jesper HANSEN, today’s sixth.