Thaindian News

By Abhishek Roy
New Delhi, Oct 5 (IANS) With the cricket team’s thrilling Test match win over Australia in Mohali Tuesday coinciding with the Indian shooters’ gold rush at the Commonwealth Games here, Olympic champion marksman Abhinav Bindra said Commonwealth Games coverage would get precedence over cricket.

Bindra and World No.3 Gagan Narang gave India the first gold medal in the 19th Commonwealth Games by winning the men’s 10-metre air rifle pairs event while the second came from Anisa Sayyed and Rahi Sarnobat in the women’s 25 metres pistol pairs. The Indians set new Games records in both the events.

Bindra, who completed a hattrick of gold medals in pairs (2002, 2006 and now in 2010) in the Commonwealth Games, said it was his best moment since the top podium finish in the 10-metre air rifle event at the Beijing Olympics. It was also his first medal since then.

“It always feels special to win the gold. This is my best moment since winning the gold at the Beijing Games. And this is the first time I am competing in such a big event on home soil,” said Bindra, who as a 15-year old made his international debut in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, where he was the youngest Indian in the contingent.

Asked if the news of the triumph of the Indian shooters in the Commonwealth Games will take the back seat on a day when the cricket team also won a Test match against Australia, Bindra said: “The Commonwealth Games will dominate the news columns. At least I want to live with that illusion.”

On the competition, Bindra said: “It was not a cake walk. There was a lot of expectations. There was a lot of pressure. It was certainly not easy.”