Medal will give me a lot of confidence going into the other events: Gagan Narang

Olympics bronze medalist Gagan Narang said that his medal will give him a lot of confidence going into the other events, says a report in The DNA. Gagan added that the win hasn’t sunk in yet and that he hasn’t had the time to think about it, actually. “But I think after I get back to the Olympic Village, I will think about what happened and then I will be able to tell you better.”

Talking about his strategy, Gagan said that the basic idea was not to start until he was feeling confident and settled. “It was important for me to begin well. So, I took my time. Then, there was a tactical mistake in the third series as well so I wasn’t rushing. I was quite angry with myself. A similar mistake had cost me a place in the final at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. But now I stand vindicated,” said Gagan.

“There was a lot of pressure. But I tried not to think much; just reflected on my performance in the qualifying and strategised for the final. I think I have partly achieved what I wanted to. This medal gives a lot of confidence going into the next two the events. So yeah, I am looking forward to it.”

According to a report in The DNA, the Haryana government Monday announced a reward of Rs.one crore for shooter Gagan Narang for winning a bronze medal for the country in the 10-metre Air Rifle event at the London Olympics. This is the first medal for India in the 2012 Games.

Even though Narang does not belong to Haryana, he has been given the reward under the category of sportspersons from the state as his family roots are from the northern state.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda announced the reward for Narang immediately after he won bronze in the shooting event in London on Monday.

Meanwhile, millions of Indian fans who sat in front of their TV sets on Tuesday afternoon to watch their heroes Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang in action, were shocked to discover that there was no live telecast of the preliminary round of the men's 10m Air Rifle event from the London Games, says a report in The Times Of India.

The rising interest across the nation to watch the Indians in action has not reflected in the TV coverage. On Monday, there was no live footage of badminton player Saina Nehwal's first match, while boxer Jai Bhagwan's first-round match was interrupted after the first round. The Indian fans also missed the showing of tennis player Somdev Devvarman and shooter Heena Sidhu.

"Why are they showing sports like fencing at the cost of shooting?" asked a disappointed fan. "We were all waiting to watch Bindra and Narang but all the three channels - ESPN, Star Sports and DD - were showing archery, hockey and badminton in which there was no Indian interest," an upcoming shooter said.