Narang all set to dominate Commonwealth Shooting

18 February 2010. Air of confidence marked the Indian camp on the eve of the Commonwealth Shooting Championship that will commence at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Ranges from Friday.

Men’s 10m air rifle pair event is one of the four events in which shooters will compete on the opening day, and India’s star shooter Gagan Narang will be seen in action in the rifle competition.

Narang though didn’t divulge into the details of his preparation or his goal, if any, he had set for tomorrow’s event, but hinted at giving his best. "I will talk to you guys as much I can, but only after the event is over tomorrow," he told inquisitive journalists present for the inauguration ceremony today.

Samaresh Jung taking the competitor's oath flanked by Manavjit Sandhu

Narang who will compete in as many as three rifle events (both pair and singles) in the tournament, may have kept cards close to his chest, but his body language said it all. He walked with an air of confidence and exchanged pleasantries with friends and team-mate. And, of course also captured exciting moments with his camera. "I like shooting with the camera too," he said.

With Narang one of the competitor for tommorow's pair event, PT Raghunath is the other, podium finish that too gold shouldn’t elude India. Hence, all eyes will be on Narang!

Apart from 10m air rifle, men’s 50m free pistol pair event is also on the menu. With depleted field, Indian shooters are expected to make most of the opportunity, but Amanpreet Singh is not complacent. The field may be thin, but visitors can spring a surprise. The shooter’s profile from other countries may not be very impressive, but somebody from the competitor might prop up his performance to upset the best in the fray," he said, adding, "hopefully, I am able to give my best tomorrow."

Top shooters will also be seen in action in the women’s 25m pistol pairs and 50m 3 position pairs, the other two events on cards for the opening day.

Chaotic start to shooting c’ships

Inaugurated by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, the function turned out to be a comedy of errors with the microphone malfunctioning at the most inopportune of times, jarring when Commonwealth Games’ multiple gold medallist pistol shooter Samaresh Jung took the competitors’ oath.

As Jung read out the oath, flanked by star trap shooter Manavjit Singh Sandhu, the poor sound system blurred out a part of the oath.

Security personnel outnumbered the 146 shooters -- 46 of them Indians -- at the ceremony, also attended by Commonwealth Shooting Federation chief Graham Hudson, IOA secretary general Randhir Singh, Commonwealth Games Federation CEO Mike Hooper and officials from the National Rifles Association of India (NRAI).

Kalmadi, also the CWG Organising Committee chief, created a spark after saying there would be lapses in security.

“There would be some security lapse here and there but everybody would be safe. All the foreign athletes are very happy with the security,” he claimed.

The competition starts on Friday and concludes by February 27. indianshooting.com