Bashir tumbles out of 25m rapid fire pistol event

PARIS (France): Shooter Ghulam Mustafa (GM) Bashir fumbled in the last round of both stages, managing 95 each on the last ten marks to go tumbling out of the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre located at the outskirts of Paris.

GM Bashir, a bronze medalist at the World Championship, finished 15th in the 29-men field. He was well placed to make his mark just before the halfway stage. However, a score of 95 points on the last ten hits of the first stage pushed him back as he grabbed 292 at the end of the halfway stage occupying sixth, then eighth, and then 10th position.

He again lost the plot during the last round of Stage 2, managing 95 on the last ten rapid fires to end up 15th. He managed a total of 581.19 points with the last qualifiers getting 585.27.

The top six qualified for the finals to be held today (Monday). Two Indians Anish and Sidhu also failed to qualify for the finals after occupying good positions following the first stage.

Two Chinese shooters Li Yuehong and Wang Xinjie finished one-two in the qualifying round gathering 588 and 587 points, respectively. One shooter each from Ukraine, Italy, Germany and Korea completed the line-up of six who will fight for the medals on Monday in the 25m Rapid Fire category.

For Pakistan, GM Bashir was the last hope in shooting following the early exit of Kishmala Talat and Gulfam Joseph. “It all started well as I was hopeful of making it to the top position-holders following the first two rounds of Stage 1. My last round of stage I and II did not go well as I finished the round in 10th position. Yet I was hopeful to make amends in the second stage. The start of the second stage was also perfect.

Following the first two rounds of the second stage, I had a ray of hope of making the cut, yet the last round of 95 made it impossible for me to improve on my position,” Bashir said.

He admitted that the field was tough as all the leading shooters were there. “Since I won bronze in the World Championship and trained hard for the event, I was hopeful of making the cut which was the first hurdle to cross but the lackluster last rounds in both stages made it impossible for me to qualify for the finals,” he said.

In all Bashir struck 19 perfect hits (bull’s-eye) against 30 struck by the leader who managed 588 score against 581 managed by Bashir. “Maintaining concentration throughout the course of action is more important. One odd shot and you can lose the plot. Sometimes it happens. I tried hard and gave my best shot which was not enough to take me to the finals.”