Union Sports minister Vikram Verma congratulated Anjali Vedpathak Bhagwat on her gold medal win in the air rifle event, on the opening day of the ISSF World Cup Rilfe-Pistol, being held at Fort Benning, Columbus, in the United States, from May 3 to 11.

In a message, Verma said, "Ms Bhagwat has once again done the country proud."

He expressed confidence that the 33-year-old Central Industrial Security Force inspector will continue to achieve more honours for the country.

Bhagwat, who had booked her Olympic quota last year in Atlanta around the same time, shot a 399 followed by a 103.2 in the final to clinch her maiden gold at the World Cup with an overwhelming score of 502.2.

Lioubov Galkina of Russia, who had beaten Anjali to the gold by 0.7 points the last time in Atlanta, finished with the silver this time, with 500.6 points, as she could shoot only a 397 in the preliminary phase.

Anjali had a series of 100, 100, 100 and 99 in the qualifying series to match her best of 399. She was the third best in the final but still won by a comfortable 1.6 margin.

Two other Indian shooters in action, Deepali Deshpande and Suma Shirur, who had a stint of training with renowned rifle coach Laszlo Szucsak, recently, thanks to a government scholarship, made the eight-player final.

Deepali had an impressive 398 in the preliminary phase, with rounds of 99, 100, 99 and 100, but a below par 101.2 in the final put paid to her hopes of making the Olympic quota by an agonising margin of 0.3 points.

Deepali had a total of 499.2.

Bhagwat, the Sydney Olympics finalist, had a fabulous season last year, winning silver medals in the World Cups in Sydney and Atlanta, apart from another silver in the prestigious World Cup finals in Munich.

She also won the 'Champion of Champions' title in an open competition for the champion men and women rifle shooters then. The four gold medals in the Commonwealth Games and the team silver in the Busan Asian Games were the other highpoints for Anjali in a spectacular season last year.

Tatiana Goldobina of Russia took the bronze with a total of 499.5 points, following an impressive 103.5 in the final that clinched her the Olympic quota as well. The quota went to the bronze medallist as both Anjali and Galkina had already booked their berths for the Athens Games.

Suma Shirur was not in her best form as she had rounds of 100, 98, 99 and 98 for a 395 and followed that up with a 102.0 in the final for a 497.0. It was a high quality effort from Anjali and company in a field that had 80 shooters from about 40 countries.

In the 10m Air Pistol men's event, India's lone entry, Samresh Jung, finished 20th, with a score of 574 in the preliminary phase and could not quailfy for the finals. The event was won by Mikhail Nestruev of Russia, with 681.4 points.

UNI