Shooting: Red carpet welcome for Bindra

Kerala rolled out a red carpet welcome to Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra here on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old who put an end to the Indian gold medal drought in individual events at the Olympics in Beijing during August was virtually moved by the rousing State reception accorded to him by the State Government and the Kerala State Sports Council at the V.J.T. Hall in the evening.

In fact, this was reflected when Bindra himself admitted: “I know I am in the midst of people of a sporting region of my country. Kerala, without doubt, has been a powerhouse for sports persons of India for decades. Right from P.T. Usha to T.C. Yohannan, Suresh Babu, Shiny Wilson, K.M. Beenamol, M.D. Valsamma, Anju Bobby George, the footballers V.P. Sathyan and Jo Paul Ancheri and not to miss the feisty cricketer Sreesanth, we all know that under no circumstances would this beautiful State stop producing India’s shining stars.”

“I personally owe a deep debt of gratitude to the State which has also produced the National shooting coach, Prof. Sunny Thomas, who has coached our shooters since 1993 with great dedication and skill. He has been a guiding force for many of us,” Bindra said in reply to the praise heaped on him by the Kerala Chief Minister, V.S. Achuthanandan, who was the chief guest at the function.

The Chief Minister, who presented a finely crafted memento, a target in which a bullet (weighing 10 gold sovereigns) was attached, to Bindra had equated the success of the ace shooter in air rifle at the Beijing extravaganza as a “land mark achievement.”

Mr. Achuthanandan also presented a cheque for Rs. 5 lakh to Sunny Thomas.

The Sports Minister, M. Vijayakumar, in his presidential address, hoped that Bindra would bring back more laurels to the country in the future. The Education Minister, M.A. Baby, while offering his felicitations said that Bindrahas promised to be one of the members of the expert committee to be set by the Government to suggest measures on how to improve sports in educational institutions of higher learning. He also announced that the committee will be headed by Prakash Padukone.

Shooting: Bindra in crosshairs as ex-manager threatens to sue

Abhinav Bindra seems to be controversy’s favourite child offlate. After his Dad’s non payment of loans, now comes something thats straight at him. His former Manager has issued a legal notice alleging wrongful termination of contract.

The Rifle Association president called him “ungrateful” and now his former manager has threatened to take the ace shooter to court, alleging her contract was wrongfully terminated by the Bindras.

Latika Khaneja’s collage sports management has managed Abhinav Bindra for the better part of last five years. Most of that time was spent in a futile attempt to bring in sponsors.

Now that Bindra’s popularity has gone up, Khaneja alleges that the family stabbed her in the back, especially as the endorsements started to flow in.

“I had initially negotiated the Samsung deal but they started behaving differently after the Gold medal,” Khaneja says.

When contacted the Bindra family refused to comment.

The Bindras believe Khaneja didn’t market Abhinav well and is now trying to piggyback on his Olympic success.

Khaneja however dismisses that claim and says she is determined to drag the Bindras to court.

“I feel that a hero has to behave responsibly,” Khaneja says.

Sources close to the Bindra camp say that the legal threat seems like a desperate move by Khaneja, whose contract was terminated four months ago.

However the Bindras must remember that no sportsmen apart from Cricketers have landed up with endorsement deals. An exception might have been Vishy Anand , but the rest of the lot have been left high and dry. So blaming Latika for not marketing Abhinav well isnt something that she can be accused of. I am sure Abhinav wouldnt have got any deals if he hadnt won any medal at the Olympics. It was the medal that is giving him endorsements and it could be a distinct possibility that Latika could have worked out the deal herself. So its time Abhinav Bindra realises that Latika has done her leg work and compensate her for it.

Shooting: Gagan Narang wins Gold at World Cup Finals

Putting behind the disappointment of the Olympic Games, shooter Gagan Narang won the gold in the men’s 10 metre air rifle event with a world record score in the World Cup Finals in Bangkok Wednesday morning.

In a strong field dominated by Beijing Games medallists Chinese Zhu Qinan and Finn Henn Hakkinen, Narang shot a perfect 600 in the qualifying stage and 103.5 in the final for a world record score of 703.5.

En route to the gold, Narang broke the record of Austrian Farnik Thomas set in 2006 World Cup Final in Granada, Spain.

American Matthew Emmons bagged the silver with 702.5 (qualifying 598, final 104.5) and the bronze went to Zhu, who shot 702.3 (qualifying 599, final 103.3).

The 25-year-old Indian qualified for the event after he won a bronze in the World Cup in China earlier this year. He almost made it to the final round at the Beijing Games but eventually lost out on a count-back.

Qinan, a gold medallist in the Athens Olympics, won the silver in Beijing while Hakkinen bagged the bronze.