Glasgow 2014: Drew Christie takes shooting silver

DREW Christie won Scotland’s first shooting medal of the 2014 Commonwealth Games by taking silver in the skeet behind former world champion Georgios Achilles of Cyprus.
Drew Christie of Scotland, left, Georgios Achilleos, centre, and, Rory Warlow of England celebrate on the podium. Picture: GettyDrew Christie of Scotland, left, Georgios Achilleos, centre, and, Rory Warlow of England celebrate on the podium. Picture: Getty
Drew Christie of Scotland, left, Georgios Achilleos, centre, and, Rory Warlow of England celebrate on the podium. Picture: Getty

In a riveting final, Christie went ahead 3-2 after the first four shots, but missed the next two and Achilleos hit all four to go into the lead in the 16-shot final.

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Drew Christie. Picture: SNSDrew Christie. Picture: SNS
Drew Christie. Picture: SNS

Three Christie misses in the next four shots made the final result inevitable, as the hugely experienced Cypriot forged ahead.

Christie ended lamely with another four misses, and Achilleos hit all four targets to win by 14-6.

In the semi-final, nerves had been on display from the outset, with a equipment malfunctions not helping, and only Allen of Wales and Warlow of England hit all four targets in the first round.

By the end of the second round all six had missed at least one, and by the end of the third round, Achilleos and Warlow were joint first on 10, with all four other finalists on 9.

Christie and Achilleos hit all four targets in the fourth round, while Allen and Warlow fell away, putting Christie into the final match for gold and silver against the Cypriot whose greater experience of major finals proved decisive.

Silver was neverthless an outstanding result for Christie, who lives just down the road from Barry Buddon in Dundee.

In the bronze medal match, Andreas Chasikos of Cyprus missed his final two targets and Warlow held his nerve to bag all four and come from behind to clinch third place.

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Scotland’s Jen McIntosh failed in her attempt to win the 10m air rifle Commonwealth championship after she successfully qualified for the final during a tense morning session at the Barry Buddon shooting range.

McIntosh’s bid for glory in the final was doomed after she scored a lowly 9.3 with her first shot, and she was the second person to be eliminated, meaning that she finished seventh overall.

Apurvi Chandela of India took the gold and her compatriot Ayonika Paul won silver, with Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi of Malaysia taking bronze.

Earlier, McIntosh’s sister Seonaid sadly could not put together a consistent string of shots and was eliminated in 19th place in qualifying for the same event.

Barry Buddon saw history made when Michael Gault won bronze in the 10m men’s air pistol event. The 60-year-old Englishman started badly in the final but came back to achieve his record-equaling 18th Commonwealth medal behind Australian gold medallist Daniel Repacholi and Prakash Nanjappa of India

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