Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang fail to qualify for final of Fort Benning World Cup

NEW DELHI : Olympic medallists Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang failed to qualify for the final round of men's 10m Air Rifle event while Jitu Rai progressed to the qualification round in 50m Pistol on the opening day of the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup at Fort Benning, United States today.

Bindra, India's only individual Olympic gold medallist in 2008 Beijing Games, finished 15th in the qualification round with a score of 624.6. Sanjeev Rajput and Narang finished 25th and 26th respectively with scores of 623 and 622.9.

Bindra had finished 46th in the first Rifle/Pistol World Cup of the season in the South Korean city of Changwon last month.

In the men's 50m Pistol event, all three Indian shooters -- Jitu, Prakash Nanjappa and Om Prakash -- survived the elimination rounds and will shoot for a place in the finals tomorrow.

Prakash Nanjappa, in particular, was in fine form, shooting a 566 to finish third in his elimination relay round.

In the women's 25m Pistol event, the Indian trio of Anisa Sayyed, Anu Raj Singh and Rahi Sarnobat also failed to make the cut for the final round.

Anisa finished 20th with a score of 577. Anu Raj Singh finished a point and two positions below Anisa while Rahi Sarnobat could only manage 29th spot with a score of 575.

As many as 24 Olympic quota places are for the taking at Fort Benning.