Russian Men Hit the Target

   Lenoid Ekimov from Pomorskiy State University and his teammates took a full charge in the 50m pistol categories, sweeping both victories in the men's individual and team gold medals in the opening day of the shooting competition which was included in the Games for the first time.

   Ekimov, a 19-year-old sport student, comfortably claimed the individual gold medal with a total score of 664.3 points. Thanks to his outstanding qualification mark of 571.

   "I just wanted to shoot for the best result in the qualifying round. Normally I also shoot with the same score. Others just did a bit worse than me,'' said the Russian deadeye after his triumph. Finishing second was Ukraine's Ivan Rybovalov, with 654.3 while South Korean Lee Dae-myung, who scored the highest in the final with 99.8 points, landed at third, 647.8.

   While the three shooters celebrated their medals, Valeriu Negreba of the Republic of Moldova, unfortunately, had to leave the final in a premature fashion due to a technical problem with his gun. The contest was briefly suspended as Negreba could not fire the bullet and was forced to forfeit.

    "I was not disturbed by that. I think it's the responsibility of every shooter to check their guns before the match," said Ekimov who eyes on joining the Russian Olympics team next year.

    He and teammates Alexey Gnidshenko and Andrey Brayko scored 1,658 on aggregate to win the team's event. Ukraine won the silver with 1,637 while the bronze was taken by South Korea, 1,627.

Sarao new Games record

   Thai Noppadon Sutiviruch was the only Thai to manage to reach the final on Friday. He finished fifth with 640.9 points in the men's 50m pistol.

   In the women's 10 m air pistol, 2006 Indian national champion Sarao Harveen led from start to finish to capture the individual gold medal, firing 486.1 points. She shot a remarkable 388 in the preliminary and 98.1 in the final. But the 388 record was not her personal best.

    "I used to shoot  390 points in the national championships last year," said the junior Art student who finished eighth and ninth in the World Cup series in Sydney and USA this year.

   "I took the University Games as a preparation for the Beijing Olympics. However, I still need to win a place in the squad in the national championships this year,'' said the 21-year-old sharpshooter.

   Ukrainian Olena Kostevych took the silver with 483.5 points and Russian Kira Mozgalova produced 481.8 points for the bronze. 

   Kostevych, however, had some consolation as she won the team's event along with Yuliya Korrostylova and Inna Kryachko with a total score of 1,153.  South Korean and India finished the top three with 1,151 and 1,143.

   Lerpong Amsa-ngiam

The Nation