Shooters frustrate in Japan

Shooter Rabiul Islam failed to transform his promise into success in the 10th Asian Airgun Championships as he finished 12th among 19 participants in the junior 10m air rifle event held in Wako City, Japan yesterday.

Before their departure for Japan, coach Klavs Christensen had pinned his utmost hope on Rabiul to at least qualify for the eight-shooter final round, but the 18-year-old could only manage a score of 618.3 points, which was 2.9 points less than what the eighth and final qualifier scored. Rabiul's effort was less than what he had scored (620.1) during the Junior World Championships earlier this year,

Rabiul was not alone though as senior shooters from Bangladesh also failed to shine during yesterday's events of this continental championship where he had won two silver medals in the last edition.

Commonwealth Games silver medallist Abdullah Hel Baki finished 12th among 28 shooters in his pet event of men's 100m air rifle while his teammates Risalatul Islam and Rabbi Hasan Munna became 16th and 18th with modest scores. Baki fell 3.3 points short of the qualifying mark for the final round after scoring 620.9 points.

Risalatul and Munna scored 615 points and 613.8 points respectively. The overall scores of the three shooters meant the Bangladesh team finished fourth after China, India and Japan.

Female shooter Zakia Sultana Tumpa was eliminated from the qualification round of women's 10m air rifle event as she finished 21st among 34 participants with a score of 410.1 points, 4.7 points less than the final qualifier.

Meanwhile, Syeda Atkia Hasan Disha will take part in women's junior 10m air rifle event while Arnab Sarar will vie for youth men's 10m air rifle event today.