Friday, 2 August 2002 |
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Khan gives Bangladesh its first ever medal MANCHESTER, Thursday , Bangladesh won their first ever Commonwealth Games medal here on Wednesday when Asif Hossain Khan triumphed in the Men's 10m Air Rifle shooting competition winning gold with the final shot of the competition. The 15-year-old, taking part in his first international event, scored 691.9 points to finish ahead of India's Abhinav Bindra, who scored 691.4 points with Timothy Lowndes of Australia in third spot with 690.4. "I am very happy and excited with this result. I felt a lot of pressure because this is my first ever international competition," said Khan. "But I knew that I had nothing to lose because all of the others shooters are world class while I am just starting out." In the final event of the day, England's Michael Gault won his seventh career gold with victory in the men's 10m air pistol event when he pushed Indian duo Samaresh Jung and Jaspal Rana into second and third places. It was a dramatic finale to the event for Khan, who had finished fifth in the qualifying round, as the gold medal was decided on the final shot. "I just thought I would try hard on the final shot and make it a perfect, perfect shot. It was only a 9.9 and I thought that I would come second or third. I never believed I had won gold." Bindra, who had led the qualifying round, said he was shattered by the outcome of the event. "I was very disappointed. I thought I could have won it but that's just the way it goes," said the Indian. "It was not that nerve-wracking. I wanted to fight hard. I tried to do it but it just didn't go my way. "It was a little surprising to see Bangladesh win. However, he had a good final - let's see where he is in four year's time." Australia's Michael Diamond defended his trap title with a score of 124 points. Fellow Australian Adam Vella took silver with 121 points while Welshman Michael Wixey won bronze with 120. |
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