Jaspal Rana Equals World Record

BANGALORE: Jaspal Rana knows how to have the last word. Come to think of it, he lets his pistols do the talking as the 21-year-old did in equaling the world record score of 590 points in the center fire pistol event in the National Games shooting competition at the JN Radhakrishna Ranges here, June 8.

His score, which included four near-perfect rounds of 99 points each, 98 in theng round and 96 in the third, was also better than the Asian record of 589 but neither record is likely to be recognized since this is not a UIT-sanctioned meet.

It was a command performance, considering that silver medalist Naresh Kumar (Madhya Pradesh) was the only other contestant among 27 to notch up a round of 99. More importantly, it was creditable in the light of the rusty frame of mind he came here.

There was little doubt that India’s top gun was not focused when he arrived here for the National Games; he had not only stirred up a controversy involving the Administrator of the Karni Singh Ranges but also had inadequate training.

It was not the first time that Jaspal Rana’s scores equaled the world mark. He had such an experience in the National Championship at Coimbatore a couple of years ago.

The Indian shooting sensation said he was extremely happy over equaling the world record.

He said before rushing for another event, "I will come as the things come by," when asked about his future programs indicating that the ace shooter of the country was certainly aiming high.

There was jubilation at far away shooting range in the Sports Authority of India, Southern Center, here following Rana’s feat.

National coach Sunny Thomas who was jubilant as his ward had equaled the world record, said "This is what he needed after a couple of poor performances. I had told him that he can do better."

Sunny Thomas said had Rana equaled his 298 performance at the Asian Games, the Delhi shooter would have smashed the world record. He always had problems with precision but today he came up with 293 out of 300, an excellent performance for him.

As he finished with a tally of two gold and a silver from his four events (besides the four gold in the team events), Jaspal Rana must have been delighted to see his friend, Ashok Pandit (Maharashtra) break into the medal bracket for the first time in the National Games here.

Pandit, who stood by Jaspal Rana through thick and thin of the controversy over the past few months, finished with a score of 568 points, a mere one point behind Naresh Kumar.

There was a shock when the country’s top markswoman Abha Dhillon (Uttar Pradesh) was disqualified in the final of the women’s sport pistol event for having started shooting during the three-minute regulation aiming phase.

Abha led the eight finalists with 547 points, five clear of team-mate Ritu Chaudhury. In the final, Maharashtra’s Harvinder Kaur tallied 102.7 points against Ritu Chaudhury’s 91.7 to clinch gold.

The results:

Men’s center fire pistol: 1. Jaspal Rana (Delhi) 590 points; 2. Naresh Kumar 569; 3. Ashok Pandit (Maharashtra) 568. Team championship: 1. Delhi 1704 (Jaspal Rana 590, Vivek Singh 566, Rajiv Sharma 548); 2. Madhya Pradesh 1684; 3. Rajasthan 1673.

Women’s sport pistol: 1. Harvinder Kaur (Maharashtra) 642.7; 2. Ritu Chaudhury (Uttar Pradesh 633.7; 3. Vandana Narkar (Maharashtra) 618.9.

Team championship: 1. Uttar Pradesh 1613 (Abha Dhillon 547, Ritu Chaudhury 542, Aradhana Sharma 524); 2. Maharashtra 1585; 3. Delhi 1551 (Rachna Negi 526, Shilipi Singh 514, Balesh Chaudhury 511).

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