Abdullah Hel Baki maintained his supremacy in 10-metre air rifle event when the premier Bangladeshi shooter grabbed his fifth consecutive gold medal in the 28 National Shooting Championship in a nail-biting finish on Wednesday. Baki, who represented Bangladesh in the just-concluded Rio Olympic Games, previously won gold medals in the 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2015 editions of the national championship.
There was no National Championship in 2013 and 2014.
The 28-year-old Bangladesh Navy shooter used his experience and composure to beat Mahmudul Hasan of Narayanganj Rifles in the last shot of the final round.
The 2014 Commonwealth Games silver medal winner also set a new national record by firing 596 points in the qualification round.
The previous record was 595 points, which was jointly held by Baki himself and 2012 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Asif Hossain Khan.
Baki kept his nerve till last moment to beat Mahmudul, who maintained the lead till the penultimate round.
In the second last shot of the final round, both Baki and Mahmudul were tied on 192 points, as a result, the gold had to be decided in the last shot.
Baki fired 10.5 points while Mahmudul hit 9.2 points in the final shot, which gave Baki the gold with overall 202.5 points as Mahmudul had to remain satisfied with the silver medal with a total of 201.2 points.
Shovon Chowdhury of Dhaka Rifles Club managed the bronze medal after scoring 181.3 points.
Baki expressed his joy after maintaining his supremacy in the national circuit.
‘I always preferred to focus in my game rather than thinking about the record,’ Baki said after his fifth gold medal.
‘But I’m really happy with my qualification performance as I could put Asif Bhai [Asif Hossain Khan] and my own record behind.’
Baki also claimed that he didn’t get enough time to prepare himself for the competition after returning home from Rio last week.
‘It was a difficult job for me because after finishing my Olympic competition on August 8, I didn’t get enough preparation time.
‘Not only that, it was also difficult for me to adjust with the newly constructed range where I got only one day to practice.
‘But I had full faith on me and I was waiting for the last chance and tried to keep my rhythm till the last shot and finally I did my best to win the medal.’
Meanwhile, Army Shooting Association became champions with 11 gold medals while Narayanganj Rifle Club bagged four gold medals to take the second position.
-With New Age input
