Rathore rewrites record; Kuwaiti grabs golf

Two Italians, Luca Marini and Emanuele Bernasconi, finished behind him in that order.

National champion RVS Rathore shone on an otherwise dismal day for the hosts with a national record. Rathore, with a 49 in the third round, grabbed the last place in the final. But the pressure of a final clash caught up with him and the army officer missed five birds to log 45, for a cumulative score of 180 that saw him set a National mark. The previous best was held by Moraad Ali Khan, who had shot 175 at the Chennai Nationals two years ago.

Leading by a point at the start of the final, the Kuwaiti was visibly concerned about the Italians. Marini, in particular, was going great guns with some accurate shooting initially and Bernasconi surprised him by closing in. In a neck-and-neck race for gold, the places kept changing with every shot till the moment of reckoning, when Deehani shot down two birds with precision.

Rathore almost wept when he missed the bronze by a few points. He was using the SAI flash targets for the first time, though this is normal practice in an international event. That seemed to have upset his rhythm in the final count as he staged a recovery after having missed nine and five shots in the first two rounds. However, he shot the maximum with a 49 in the third round that helped him qualify.

Results: Fehaid-al-Deehani (Kuw) 184 (139+45), Luca Marini (Ita) 183 (138+45), Emanuele Bernasconi (Ita) 182 (136+46), Vassile Mossine (Rus) 181 (136+45), RVS Rathore (Ind) 180 (135+45).