Shooter wins India's first medal at Beijing Games

Last Updated: Monday, August 11, 2008 | 2:08 AM ET

CBC Sports

Silver medallist Zhu Qinan of China, gold medallist Abhinav Bindra of India and bronze medallist Henri Hakkinen of Finland pose after the men's 10-metre air rifle final. (Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Shooter Abhinav Bindra won the men's air rifle shooting competition to capture India's first medal of the Beijing Olympic Games on Day 3 of competition.

He edged China's Zhu Qinan, the defending Olympic champion, by a score of 700.5 to 699.7. The bronze went to Finland's Henri Hakkinen, who shot a final score of 699.4.

Hakkinen was leading after the qualification round but was surpassed by Zhu and Bindra, who had strong finishes in the final round. Bindra did not shoot lower than 10.0 in that final round to secure the gold medal, averaging a score of 10.45.

Heading into the final shot, Hakkinen and Bindra were tied for first, but Bindra made the best shot of the final with a 10.8 and Hakkinen made his worst shot, posting a score of 9.7 and allowing Zhu to pass him and win silver. Zhu scored 10.5 on his final shot.

Zhu's silver is China's third shooting medal of the Games. Zhu holds the Olympic record for the highest final score in men's air rifle, the 702.7 he shot in Athens in 2004.