Gagan Narang fails to qualify in 10m air rifle for Commonwealth Games

London Olympics bronze medallist Gagan Narang failed to qualify for the 10 metre air rifle event for the Commonwealth Games to be held in Glasgow from July 23 to August 3. All other high profile shooters, including Beijing Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra and London Games silver medallist Vijay Kumar, made the cut during the ongoing trials here at the Karni Singh Shooting Range on Friday.

Narang missed out on a place as his last six scores were not good enough. The scores included were that scored at the World Cups, National Championships and national trials. Confirming this, National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) secretary Rajiv Bhatia said: "That is the criteria for selecting teams."

Narang has won four gold medals, including one in the 10-metre air rifle, during the last edition at New Delhi in 2010. The Hyderabad-based shooter, however, will be competing in two other events — men's 50-metre 3-position rifle and 50-metre prone events.

Sanjeev Rajput and Joydeep Karmakar have also made the cut in the same events respectively. The selection committee of the NRAI picked the rifle and pistol teams here. Whereas, the shotgun team will be picked after the World Cup in Almaty.

Army shooter Vijay Kumar will compete in his pet event — 25-metre rapid fire pistol.

In the women's section, world No. 1 Heena Sidhu will lead the Indian challenge in the pistol and rifle events. The 24-year-old recently attained the top spot in women's 10-meter air pistol after winning back-to-back medals at Asian Air Gun Championship gold in Kuwait, followed by silver at ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup in Fort Benning last month.