Giving the country its first medal in the current Olympics, 29-year-old Gagan Narang lived upto expectations to claim the bronze, the third shooting medal in India's Olympic history, but his overall performance was below his personal best.
While Gagan Narang managed to be consistent enough to win the medal in his third Olympic appearance, Beijing Games gold medallist Bindra, who was also touted as a serious medal contender, finished a disappointing 16th in the qualification round.
But the day clearly belonged to Gagan Narang who shot 598 in the qualification and held his nerve in the tense tie-breaker to claim the bronze medal in a virtual neck-and-neck contest. Gagan Narang had a total score of 701.1.
Spurred on by the vociferous support of a sizeable Indian supporters and officials at the venue, Gagan Narang was done in by two poor scores of 9.7 (second round) and 9.5 (eighth round), which ultimately pegged him down to the third position.
Alin George Moldoveanu of Romania bagged the coveted gold medal with a total of 702.1 while Italy's Niccolo Campriani took the silver with a score of 701.5.
Gagan Narang, who had taken part in the Athens and Beijing Games, and missed final berths by a whisker, was understandably relieved to have fulfilled his dream of winning an Olympic medal.
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