Gold Coast, April 14: Sanjeev Rajput won India's seventh gold medal in shooting on Saturday (April 14), finishing first in the final of the men's 50M Rifle 3 Positions event at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
Rajput shot a Commonwealth Games record of 454.5 in the final to clinch his maiden Commonwealth Games gold medal.
| SAWANT, BHANWALE ON TOP" title="MEDAL TALLY | BOXERS WIN GOLD | SAWANT, BHANWALE ON TOP" />MEDAL TALLY | BOXERS WIN GOLD | SAWANT, BHANWALE ON TOP
Canada's Gregor Sych finished in second position whilst England's Dean Bale rounded up the podium. Another Indian Chain Singh finished fifth. Meanwhile, Kynan Chenai and Manavjit Sandhu failed to qualify for the men's Trap final. Chenai finished seventh and Sandhu ended up on eighth. Chenai scored 117 after all five rounds while Sandhu scored 115 as only the top six shooters move into the final
In the qualification, Rajput scored 391 in kneeling, 399 in prone and 390 in standing, while Chain Singh, who was placed second, shot 389 398 and 379 for a cumulative score of 1166.
In prone Rajput shot three 100s and a 99.
And here’s a 🥇 for Sanjeev Rajput in 50m rifle 3 position event. Not just a gold, Sanjeev has even shattered the CWG record.
— SAIMedia (@Media_SAI) April 14, 2018
So proud to see the incredible talent #India has!
Many congratulations! #IndiaAtCWG #CWG2018 #GC2018Shooting #SAI🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/a5ruFK7st4
Rajput has previously won a silver in the same event at the 2014 Glasgow Games and was a bronze medal winner in the 2006 edition of the Games held in Melbourne.
This is first gold medal in CWG and third overall in these Games.
Before the CWG, Sanjeev had told the Times of India about the importance of the meet for him.
"The 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games will be my third games. From the bronze of 2006, I progressed to silver in 50m Rifle 3rd Position in the 2014 CWG losing to Daniel Rivers in the final. For this edition I am very well prepared with six to seven hours of training session at the National Camp," Sanjeev had said.
"In addition to the training, we shooters have been fortunate to compete at international competitions for the last six months. My total focus had been on the trials for the Commonwealth Games and to do well in at the international competitions. I was happy with my fourth position finish at the Mexico World Cup. I was up against the World's best shooters from America, Russia, Europe and Asia," Sanjeev said.
"Akhil won the gold in this event. Many other Indian shooters have been excelling at the World stage including outstanding juniors like Manu Bhaker who won two Gold medals at the World Senior and Junior Championship. Our Russian coach Oleg has also been of great help in our preparations," he added.