Bangladesh shooters put on a dismal show in the 10-metre Air Rifle event when they shot far below than their normal scores on the opening day of the Asian Games shooting in Guangzhou on Saturday.
The 10-metre Air Rifle, usually the favourite event of Bangladesh, saw both the male and female shooters put in below-par performances in the individual and the team events. Sharmin Akhter, who did not participate in the SA Games and the Commonwealth Games, however, grabbed the attention by upstaging her illustrious partners Sharmin Akhter Ratna and Tripti Dutta.
Sharmin shot 392 points to be placed 22nd among the 54 shooters in the women’s 10m Air Rifle individual event while Sharmin Akhter Ratna scored 390 points to finish 35th and Tripti Dutta scored 388 to be placed 39th. Ratna scored 394 in the SA Games, and 392 points in the Commonwealth Shooting earlier this year.
The event was won by China’s Yi Siling who shot 399 points while her compatriot Wu Liuxi followed with 398 points. Taibi Nur of Malaysia grabbed bronze with 397 points.
Sharmin, Ratna and Tripti Dutta later totalled 1,170 points in the team event and secured 10th position among the15 participants.
China won the gold by securing 1,195 points. Sharmin again toppled Ratna in the team event scoring 392 points against Ratna’s 390 points. Tripti shot 388 points.
Asif shot a miserable 585 points, Abdullah hel Baki scored the same while new comer MN Shahriar was able to compile 581 points in the men’s individual event of the 10-metre Air Rifle to be placed 22nd, 23rd and 33rd in the 58-men meet.
Zhu Qinan of China won gold with 598 points sending Indian sensation Gagan Narang to second place. Gagan shot 597 points and Korean K Kim posted 596 to grab the bronze.
In the team event of 10-metre Air Rifle, Asif’s 585, Baki’s 585 and Shahriar’s 581 points saw Bangladesh total 1,751 points to be placed 12th among 20 teams. China clinched the gold of the event with 1,784 points followed by India, who compiled 1,783 points.
Mollah Sabira, the Bangladeshi female weightlifter competing in group B of the women’s 48kg category, lifted 125kg
to finish fourth in the four-member group and failed to reach the final. Chanu Ngandam, the Indian lifter, won gold lifting 165kg.
Tayef Quader, however, presented the lone success of the day when he won the preliminary match 21 of the 8-Ball Pool Singles by defeating Amarjar Turshaikhan of Mongolia by 7-4 frames, while Aga Navil Ekram lost to Irsal Nasution of Indonesia by 7-4 frames. Md Abu Bakkar, who was supposed to compete in the men’s Changquan of Wushu, did not participate in the event though his name was in the competitors’ list.
