London: Ace rifleman Gagan Narang put India into the medal bracket by shooting a bronze in his pet 10 metre air rifle event even as his illustrious compatriot and defending champion Abhinav Bindra misfired at the London Olympics here Monday.
Narang, 29, participating in his third Games, had a total score of 701.1 (598 qualifying, 103.1 final) to finish third at the Royal Artillery Barracks range, triggering celebrations among the Indian diaspora here and the countrymen back home.
However, it proved to be a mixed day for India, as Olympic debutant Vishnu Vardhan' went down in straight sets to Slovenia's Blaz Kavcic in the first round of tennis competition, while woman archer Bombayla Devi bit the dust in the round of 32 of the individual event.
However, boxer Sumit Sangwan seemed unlucky as he went down 14-15 under controversial circumstances to Brazilian Yamaguchi Falcao Florentino in the round of 32 of 81kg category.
Narang, who missed the final round in Beijing Games on a countback, was in his elements. In the final round, he had a series of 10.7, 9.7, 10.6, 10.7, 10.4, 10.6, 9.9, 9.5, 10.3 and 10.7 to bring India's first medal give India its first medal from the London Games.Read More
