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| Geeeun Kang of South Korea poses with her women’s trap gold medal alongside silver and bronze medallists Huan Yang of China and Yukie Nakayama of Japan, respectively, at the Asian Shooting Championships yesterday |
It was a huge day in the life of Geeeun Kang of South Korea and she was on cloud nine after setting a new national record en route to gold in the Women’s Trap with a total of 93 at the Asian Shooting Championships at the Lusail Shooting Complex yesterday.
“I just can’t tell you how exactly I’m feeling right now. It’s an awesome feeling and all I can say is I’m very happy with my showing here,” said a beaming Kang, trying hard to control her smile.
The 22-yr-old is desperate to make it to the 2012 London Olympics and the last hurdle on her way, after the success here, is the nationals back home.
“I would like to carry this form into the nationals. It will all depend on how I perform there to get the ticket to the Olympics. The competition back home is also fierce,” added Kang, who managed a total of 73 from her first three qualifying rounds of 25 each.
Kang, however, was a bit wayward in the finals missing five shots but her three-point edge over silver medallist Huan Yang of China in the qualifying round saw her through to the gold.
Yang also missed five shots in the finals, where none of the top six qualifiers made a clinical finish.
The bronze medal was pocketed by Yukie Nakayama of Japan with a score of 89. Nakayama, along with her compatriots Megumi Inoue and Riyo Kiyoshi went on to clinch the team gold with a total of 198. The silver went to China’s Yang, Yingzi Liu and Yunfan Chang with a score of 195, while the bronze was claimed by Fatemeh Behzadi Amiri, Narges Sari Ranjbar and Sepideh Sirani with a total of 184.
There was something to cheer for the Indian camp as Vijay Kumar won gold in the 25m Standard Pistol event. India still continues to search for the elusive quota going into the final day today, as there was no Olympic quota place for this event - the 25m Standard Pistol does not feature at the Games.Kumar, who has already secured a quota place for India in the Rapid Fire category, scored 572/600 to tie for the lead with Yongde Jin of China. However, Kumar’s tally of 17 inner tens to Jin’s 15 helped him claim the title. The bronze was won by Tomohiro Kida of Japan with a score of 568. Poor scores from other Indian shooters - Samresh Jung (552) and Mahavir Singh (542) saw India miss the team medal. Jung finished a disappointing 16th, while Singh was 24th.
The team gold went to China’s Jin, Zhenxiang Xie and Chuanlin Li with a total of 1,695. The silver was bagged by Pruet Sriyaphan, Jakkrit Panichpatikum and Prakarn Karndee with a score of 1683, while Japan’s Kida, Norihito Sannomiya and Masaru Nakashige completed podium finishers with a score of 1680.