Bindra in crosshairs as ex-manager threatens to sue

New Delhi: Shooter Abhinav Bindra has had his share of controversies since returning to India with an Olympic gold medal.

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.

Sources tell CNN-IBN that 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.

Abhinav shoots with desi Insas Rifle

Olympic gold medal winner Abhinav Bindra on Tuesday had a different experience altogether shooting with different guns at the ITBP's shooting range here during a police sports meet.

"It was my first experience, a different one, shooting using an (indigenously built) Insas rifle and a .9 mm pistol. After firing from the rifle, there was this big bang," Bindra told reporters after opening the 52nd All India Police Duty Meet-Shooting hosted by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police at the its Basic Training Centre in Panchkula.

Asked if he had given tips to the shooters present at the range, the 25-year-old ace marksman quipped, "I was actually taking tips from them myself".

Bindra has been using a Walther-make air rifle for the past 10 years.

Twenty eight teams belonging to Central Police Forces and State Police Organisations, holding aloft their respective flags, gave a sterling display of their parade and honoured the ace shooter.

ITBP's Inspector General PP Singh stressed the significance of the meet, saying "it would be a precursor to future shooters who would bring glory to the country in the days to come".

Asked that the Armed Forces were facing shortage of officers, Bindra said the youth should be encouraged more to take it up as a career.

"I have great respect for the Armed forces. My grandfather was in the Army. I think we need to encourage our youth more and motivate them to join the forces as they offer a secure career full of thrill and adventure and at the same time one can serve the nation the best," Bindra said.

Asked if he had any plans to join the Territorial Army like legendary cricketer Kapil Dev had done, he said there were no such immediate plans though he added if any offer comes his way he would think over it.

On a question pertaining to his rare feat at the Olympics, he said, "I feel happy about it and it gives me a great sense of accomplishment.

"At the same time, I also feel that it (his feat) has brought about biggest change in the mindsets of sportspersons, a big psychological change. More and more sportspersons have started to think in terms of that they can do it too and achieve the best at the highest level.

The fact that it has inspired and motivated budding sportspersons, I am happy about that," he said.

Asked that many sportspersons lack support from the system despite having abundant talent, he said, "I know challenges are there, but we are improving.

"I think we need to have more accountability in our system. We will need to set goals and work towards achieving them. Even if we don't achieve them, but what is important is take a clear path and follow that and success will surely come one day," he said, adding "we also need to have support at the grassroot level to have a strong foundation laid".

To a question, Bindra, who is endorsing a leading consumer brand, said few more offers were in the pipeline and soon one would see him endorsing more brands.

Female athelets will need to go for gender testing

MALLESWARI SPEAKS: She thinks that such tests will harass players.

New Delhi: Weightlifting, a sport which has been tarnished by doping allegations in India might see more troubles in coming times. The Weightlifting Federation of India seems to have opened a can of worms by going in for gender testing of female athletes. They plan to make it mandatory at national level competitions.

“It is not that they are suspect. It is only to rule off the possibility of this high level of ingredients in the body being due to external stimulus," says Baldev Raj Gulati.

CNN IBN had broken the story of Santhi Soundarajan who was stripped of a medal for failing a gender test at the Doha Asiad in 2006. Only in the rarest of cases is gender testing allowed and that too after a complaint. In fact the International Olympic committee has officially stopped gender testing in 1999.

“There is no mandatory requirement so you should avoid certain delicate things rather than jumping into problems. If the rule doesn’t want it you (player) shouldn’t go for such things,” says Dr PSM Chandran.

The sports community too is up in arms at the move including the woman who is the face of Indian weightlifting.

“Something which is banned is being included deliberately. I don't understand why they are doing this. This will harass players," says Malleswari.

The Weightlifting Federations move is baffling as no athlete can be subjected to a gender test without her approval. So is it harassment or is there a deeper flaw in the system, these are some serious questions which still need to be answered.

World record holder Narang eyes London Olympics

New Delhi: India's first and only individual gold medal in Olympics, Abhinav Bindra, could not shoot a perfect score at the Games but compatriot Gagan Narang shot a perfect 600 and then smashed another world record as he won the 10 meter Air rifle world cup final in Bangkok last week.

Narang has returned home after winning his biggest title till date - the World Cup final.
The field comprised of only the top 10 performers of the year including the Olympic medallists.
Narang won shooting 600 out of 600 to equal the world record in the 10 meter air rifle qualifiers and then a 103.5 in the final to create a new world record for overall score.

"It feels marvellous. I feel on top of the world to achieve what I have always though about. I have done it in training, I have done it in competitions but never officially so it is good," says Narang.

It's been a dramatic turnaround for the Hyderabadi shooter. He was the man in form but famously missed out on the Olympic final on a technicality and watched from the stands as Bindra created history in Beijing.

"It was quite disappointing for me at the Olympic Games. a lot of people who thought very highly of me weren't thinking highly because I missed narrowly," he says about Beijing Olympic Games.

The loss in the Olympics has made Narang more determined and he's already got London in his sights.

"I have to sit down and chalk out a plan as to which competitions I want to attend and which competitions I would want to peak at, which are the important competitions for us," he reveals his future plans.

Beijing was a blip in the radar for Gagan but unfortunately recognition in India is more or less dependent on Olympic glory and it's a wrong he is determined to correct.

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Gagan Narang shoots to world record, wins world cup

Gagan Narang

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.

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Anbu.