Olympic medal winner Gagan Narang achieves No. 1 spot in Asian rankings

India's Olympic medal-winning shooter Gagan Narang, having rediscovered his old form, achieved the number one spot in the Asian rankings of the men's 50m rifle prone category on Saturday, says a report in Hindustan Times, adding that the 32-year-old Narang has 971 points to his credit while China's Shengbo Zhao is placed second with 896 points.

Meanwhile, pistol King Jitu Rai was ranked number two in the men's 50m pistol category with 1929 points, behind Jongoh Jin of Korea. Beijing Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra, who is also through to the Rio Olympic Games, was ranked fifth in 10m air rifle followed by Narang in seventh position. Gurpreet Singh was positioned fifth in 25m rapid fire pistol.

According to a report in The Indian Express, multiple time World Cup winners Narang had won a bronze medal at the London Olympics in 2012. “Troubled by injuries and his form taking a dip, Narang, was, in the beginning of the season, left out of the Indian contingent for the first three World Cups by the National Rifle Association of India in the 10m air rifle category after he failed to record the minimum qualification scored required. In Fort Benning, Narang shot a qualification score of 626.3 points to enter the final in eighth position. In the final, he shot consistently and ensured that India got a third Olympic quota in shooting, scoring a total of 185.8,” the report says.