Scintillating Abhinav Bindra ​livens up Asian Air Gun Championship, shoots gold medal in 10-metre air rifle event

New Delhi: Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra won the gold medal in men's 10-metre air rifle event in the ongoing 8th Asian Air Gun Championship in New Delhi on Sunday.

The 32-year-old Indian ace shooter produced an impressive final tally of 208.3 in the 22-men field to liven up the contest, which saw his compatriots Gagan Narang and Chain Singh finishing fourth and sixth respectively. Yurkov Yuriy (206.6) of Kazakhstan finished second, ahead of Korea's Yu Jaechul (185.3).

All the three Indian shooters have already secured quota places for next year's Rio Olympics.

The opening day of the competition also witnessed Indian Satyajeet Khandol winning the gold medal in 10m Men's Youth event. India team of Bindra, Narang and Chain Singh also won the Men's 10m event, shooting a combined total of shooting a total of 1868.6. Korea finished second, while Saudi Arabia settled for third place.

Bindra, who won gold at the 2008 Beijing Games, is one of the star attractions in an otherwise weak field. China, possibly the strongest team, opted to stay away from the competition, and South Korea and Japan have also sent their seconfd string teams.

The timing of the event can be questioned for the below par turn out, as national teams are focusing on the upcoming the Asian Championships in Kuwait -- which will be the last qualifying event for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The event at Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range will not offer any qualification spot for the Olympics. Strangely, winners in a couple of events will not be eligible for medals, and some world records will not get recognized.

However, there will be enough Indian stars in the fray, with the likes of top shooters such as Vijay Kumar, Jitu Rai, Henna Sidhu and Ayonika Paul also taking part in the competition.