The duo of Gagan Narang and P.T. Raghunath won the first gold in the men's 10 meters air rifle event. Gagan, who set a new meet record, shot a score of 599 while his teammate Raghunath scored 594 points. They beat England by eight points for gold.
India's duo of Anisa Sayyed and Anuraj Singh won another gold in the 25 meters women pairs sports pistol event. While Virat Singh and Bapu Vanjare won a silver medal in the men's 50 meters free pistol pairs event.
It may be pointed here that the Indian team lacked the presence of eminent shooters like Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra, Olympic silver medalist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, world record holder Ronjan Sodhi, the seasoned trap shooters Mansher Singh and Anwer Sultan, the world championship finalist Avneet Kaur Sidhu and two of the finest pistol shooters Heena Sidhu and Harveen Srao.
However, the absence did not hamper India's hopes as Narang and Raghunath played to the best of their abilities to grab the gold for their country.
National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) named a 43-member Indian squad for the eighth edition of the Championship, which will see top shooters from 12 nations vie for honors.
Meanwhile, according to media reports even an expenditure of Rs. 600 million has failed to ensure a flawless shotgun facility at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Ranges in Tughlaqabad. In fact, some of the defects are so glaring that it shouldn't come as a surprise if the organizers receive complaints from the international marksmen gathered for the Commonwealth Championships, which was officially inaugurated on Thursday.
Graeme Hudson, the Commonwealth Shooting Federation chief, who will certify the ranges, conceded there were problems and that only a "conditional certification" had been given to the shotgun facility for the Commonwealth Championships.
"There has to be a rectification before the Commonwealth Games in October this year. A conditional certification has been given for now," reportedly said Hudson.
