Indian shooters continued their dream run in the Commonwealth Games with three more gold medals with ace marksman Gagan Narang stealing the limelight by pipping his famed rival Abhinav Bindra with a record breaking feat here on Wednesday. Defending champion Narang fired an incredible world record 703.6 to get the better Bindra in the individual air rifle event,moments before women shooters Anisa Sayyed and Rahi Sarnobat made it a 1-2 for the hosts in singles 25m pistol,firing 583 and 576,respectively. World No. 3 Ronjan Sodhi then teamed up with junior world champion Asher Noria to add to India's medal count by claiming the silver in double trap pairs event. Omkar Singh brought to an end a perfect day in style,winning the singles 50m pistol for men late in the evening. Omkar totalled 653.6,four points ahead of silver medalist Bin Gai of Singapore. Anisa shot a total of 786.8 - 583 in the qualifying and 203.8 in the final,to better the Games record (781.5) by Australian Lalita Yauhleuskaya in the 2002 Manchester Games. Rahi totalled 781 - 576 in the qualifying and 205 in the finals,while Malaysia's Pei Chin Bibiana clinched the bronze medal. Sodhi and Noria shot 188,just one point behind gold medallists Steven Walton and Steven Scott from England. Malaysia's Benjamin Chen Jie Khor and Chye Chen Khor bagged the bronze after they totalled 185. Earlier,on his way to gold,Gagan shot a perfect 600 in the qualifiers and 103.6 in the finals,thus bettering his previous record of 703.5,which he had set in the ISSF World Cup final in Bangkok two years ago. Bindra,who,along with Gagan,gave India its first gold yesterday,in the pairs event,scored 698.0 in the finals to clinch the silver,while England's James Huckle (693.5) bagged the bronze medal,a day after clinching the silver in pairs event with his England teammate Kenny Park. The marksman,for whom winning medals has become a habit of sorts,started the day on a high note scoring 600 out of 600 in the qualifiers,therby equaling his previous record which he had achieved in Bangkok in 2008. While Gagan hit the X mark on the electronic gadget on all occasion in the qualifiers,Bindra fumbled at the start before settling down into a nice rhythm to finish second best. The finals turned out to be a cracker of a contest as both Gagan and Abhinav looked to upstage each other,with Huckle looking like the only foreign player worthy of giving the Indians some competition. The Englishman eventually finished third. After their exploits in pairs event yesterday,both the shooters - who know how to tackle the tension and perform on the big stage - looked in good form from the word go and that added to the excitement. Up against the Beijing Olympic gold medalist who is showing signs of returning to peak form following a long sabbatical and some none-too-impressive performances,including his 25th place finish in the world championship in Munich,Gagan held his own to come out triumphant. Bindra and Gagan had earlier bagged a gold medal in pairs event yesterday,by shooting a total 1,193 points,breaking their own record of 1,189 points at the Melbourne Games four years ago.
