15-year-old Bangladeshi
shocks Bindra

The talented Abhinav Bindra clinched a silver medal as the Indian shooters swelled their overall tally to eight gold, three silver and one bronze medal in the 17th Commonwealth Games on Wednesday.

The 19-year-old, who bagged a gold on the opening day of the shooting competition, narrowly missed out on his second gold as he finished just 0.5 points behind the winner, 15-year-old Asif Hossain Khan of Bangladesh, in the men's 10 metre Air Rifle event.

Khan, the youngest member of the eight-strong Bangladesh shooting team, won the first ever gold medal for his country, scoring with 691.9 points, and also set a new Commonwealth Games record.

Bindra had to be content with a silver, with 691.4 points. Australia's Tomothy Lowndes took the bronze medal.

Another Indian in the fray, Sameer Ambekar finished fifth, with an aggregate of 689.2 points.

It went down to the final shot as Khan beat hot favourite Bindra.

Bindra recorded a score of 9.1 with his final shot, but Khan held his nerve for a 9.9, to finish with 691.9 and better the record of 690, set by England's 1998 Commonwealth champion Chris Hector, who finished seventh.

That record was set by England's 1998 Commonwealth champion Chris Hector who finished seventh.

"I'm very happy and excited by this result," said Khan. "I felt a lot of pressure - too much - because this is my first ever international games."

He comes from the Pabna region of Bangladesh and became a student at the Bangladesh Sports Education Institute two years ago after his potential was spotted.

Describing the crucial final shot he said: "I thought to myself 'I have nothing to lose and everything to win'.

"The others are all world-class shooters and I'm just beginning. I just thought I'd try hard on the final shot and make it a perfect, perfect shot. It was only a 9.9. I thought I'd come third or second, not that I'd won the gold."

Team manager Akram Ali added: "I'm very proud of him. I just talked with our secretary general and everyone at home is very delighted."

India also picked a silver and bronze from the 10 meter Air Pistol final through Samresh Jung and Jaspal Rana respectively.

The Indian duo were beaten by Michael Gault of England, who tallied 675 points. Jung scored 674.8 while Rana tallied 674.7.

Gault holds the Games record of 679.9 points.

The experienced Anwer Sultan added another medal to the Indian kitty by securing the bronze in the Trap event with an effort of 142 points.