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Ardina earns country’s 1st ever silver in air pistol

8 || risingbd.com

Published: 15:00, 6 December 2019   Update: 15:18, 26 July 2020
Ardina earns country’s 1st ever silver in air pistol

A dull day in Kathmandu for Bangladesh athletes turned into a proud moment for pistol shooters after Ardina Ferdous Akhi earned the country its first ever silver medal in the women’s individual 10m air pistol event in the history of the South Asian Games on Friday.

Ardina won the final battle against Indian Commonwealth Games gold-medalist Olympian Annu Raj Singh but her compatriot Shri Nivetha bagged the gold to continue India’s sheer dominance in the game. 

Bronze-medalist Anna Ibtisam of Pakistan was distinctly behind Annu and Ardina.

The good show by the female shooters also continued as they won three out of four silvers won so far in the 13th SAG.

It was the first silver in any individual event as well after women’s 10m air rifle and 50m Rifle 3 Positions and men’s 50m Air Rifle 3 Positions team silvers in the last four days.

SAG gold-medalist in 2004 and 2010, Sharmin Akter Ratna, who won a couple of silver in the team events so far in the ongoing Games, informed that Ardina’s silver is also Bangladesh’s best achievement in any women’s individual pistol event.

Ardina, who won team silver in 2016, scored a total of 234.4 points, 3.4 less than the gold winner Annu, while Anna finished third with 214.9 points. 

Ardina shot an impressive 10.9 points to show Anna the exit door from the gold-deciding shootout.

“There was a malfunction in my pistol during the last SAG final and I finished fourth, so I was a little bit worried what would happen this time,” said Ardina. 

The 26-year-old shooter added, “The Indian shooters are miles ahead of us in terms of international experience and match temperament. This is the best achievement of my career.”

Most of Bangladesh’s golds (22 out of 67) came from shooting and it was only in 2006 there was no gold from the shooters. 

National pistol coach Kim Il Young was satisfied with Ardina’s silver, but couldn’t hide his disappointment at not witnessing any gold yet in this edition.

“I’m really disappointed because there is no gold. She (Ardina) shot well. I’m satisfied for her performance but we need more. We need to practice more and invest more, then we can win gold. I want to see higher scores. But this is the start, I hope,” said the South Korean coach.

Another pistol shooter Shakil Ahmed won Bangladesh its only gold in shooting during the 2016 Games. 

Ardina and Shakil will pair in the mixed 10m air rifle pistol event Monday. 

The pistol shooters looked confident of fulfilling their coach’s expectation on the concluding day of shooting.

Meanwhile, Ardina, along with Anjila Amjad Antu and Yesmina Nilufa, won a bronze in the women's 10m air pistol team event where India bagged gold.

Dhaka/AKA
 

risingbd.com