Straight from Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range.

“Wear Dark Glasses before entering Shooting Range in Delhi…The shine of the medals shooters will win might make you blind...” This is the warning that Gagan Narang has given to everyone who goes to watch the shooting event. And in the first day of the shooting itself, Gagan’s warning rings a bell to those ears who dares to defy his warning.

India’s Gold triumph began with Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang winning the ‘Pairs 10m Air Rifle Men’. Scoring 1193, the duo broke their own record of 1189 they had set in Melbourne four years ago. Gagan who won Bronze at the Munich World Championship with a score of 597 and booked a quota place for the London Olympics shot a spectacular sequence of 99, 100, 100, 99, 100, 100 to total a grand 598. Meanwhile Bindra, who needed grace marks to make the team for CWG 2010 ahead of Sanjeev Rajput also shot impressively with 100, 98, 99, 100, 99, 99 for a total of 595.
Far Below at 1174 were England's James Huckle and Kenny Parr who won the silver medal while Bangladesh's Abdullah Hel Baki and Md. Asif Hussain Khan (1173) had to be content with bronze in 10m air rifle.

In ‘Pairs 50m Pistol Men’ the Indian duo of Omkar Singh and Deepak Sharma had to settle with Silver scoring 1087, 7 points lesser than the Gold Medalist duo from Singapore - Bin Gai (544) and Swee Hon Lim (550). While Omkar took his time and scored 548 with patience, Deepak finish off much earlier scoring 539. The Bronze Medal went to Roger Peter Daniel (548) and Rhodney Richard Allen (533) of Trinidad & Tobago.

The second gold of the day came from Sarnobat Rahi and Anisa Sayyed ‘Pairs 25 m Pistol Women’. The Indian duo broke an eight-year-old record with an impressive score of 1156. Australia's Lalita Yauhleuskaya and Linda Ryan whose records were broken had to settle for Silver with a score of 1146 while England's Gorgs Geikie and Julia Lydall had to be content with Bronze scoring 1122.

While much was expected from the experienced Anisa, the lesser known Sarnobat, for whom the CWG 2010 is the first multi sport event she Is participating, was more impressive. She scored 296 (592/2) while Anisa scored 288 (576/2). "She is one for the future" said a team official after Sarnobat's medal-winning feat.

The last Medal event of the day at Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range was ‘Pairs 50 m Rifle 3 Positions Women Finals’. India’s another goal medal hope Tejaswini Sawant and Lajjakumari Gauswami had to settle for Silver after Aqilah Sudhir of Singapore made an impressive start in the ‘prone position’ scoring 199. She was bang on target every time she shot. This score of 199 catapult the Singapore pairs to the first position which became hard for the Indian duo to catch up with. Aqilah and her partner Xiang Wei Jasmine Ser went on to set a new record with a score of 1149. The Indian’s scored 1143 just a point higher than the Scottish pairs - Kay Copland and Jen McKintosh who bagged bronze.

And with four Medal events tomorrow, the Indian Shooting Contingent is certain to add more medals in its kitty. And guys keep Gagan,s warning in mind for he is going to shoot again tomorrow.

Good Luck Indian Shooters.