Gagan Narang

Beijing: Gagan Narang came close to booking a berth in the final but ultimately failed to qualify in the 50m rifle 3 position event here on Sunday.

Gagan faltered in kneeling and eventually finished 13th with his personal best of 1168, bettering his previous best total of 1163. Sanjeev Rajput aggregated 1162 (395 in prone, 380 in standing and 387 in kneeling) to finish 26th in the qualifying round.

Narang was impressive in prone, firing 98,99,98 and 99 to tally 394. In standing he totalled 389 and was in the hunt with a fourth place after two rounds.

His showing in kneel, however, cost him dear. He started with a 94 and did one worse in the next series. Though he fired a 97 and 100 in the third and fourth series, respectively, the damage was done.

“Kneeling has always been my weakest position, as I told you the other day too,” said Narang. “I knew that if I do well in this position, I would make it to the final. Unfortunately I didn’t,” he added.

“Yes, I could have done better in the prone and standing too… Then I could have made up for my failing in kneeling. So it was basically a combination of all three. Also, by the time I reached the kneeling, I was beginning to get tired,” he said.

Narang said that he struggled for balance which made him a little unstable. “First my right shoe lace was tight. Then my balance was a bit tilted towards the front. By the time everything was settled, it was too late.” Could it be possible that the Indians got carried away with their booty in the last Commonwealth Games and became complacent?

Narang strongly denied this. “We always put in the same. Just that sometimes good sense prevails which helps one make the right decision at the right time.”

True he was disappointed but “both Sanjeev and I are young and have a lot to look forward to yet,” said the marksman. “Now we have the World Championships, the 2010 Commonwealth Games and then the London Olympics and this experience should help me in the future,” he said.

But to that end, Narang pointed out, they need to start working right away. “We need adequate training and enough ammunition. We have to have a better system and lot more competition so that the standard improves and you have a bigger pool of shooters,” he added.

How does he manage to smile even after a loss. “Well, it’s just a sport, not the end of the road. Olympics is, after all, just another competition. As long as you have the right approach, you can carry on.” Finally, how does he motivate himself?

Narang signed off by saying: “So long as you know what you and what you are willing to give, motivation is no problem.”

In athletics, Surendra Singh finished the 10,000m race at 26th place on Sunday. His timing of 28:13.97 placed him at 26th among 35 contenders.

The 30-year-old was more than 11 seconds off his personal best timing of 28:02.89 which he had clocked in Spain last month to qualify for the Olympic Games.