Bangladesh’s hope of winning at least a bronze medal in shooting hit dust as ace shooter Sharmin Akter Ratna finished 6th in the women’s 10m Air Rifle event in the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games yesterday. The 26-year-old Bangladeshi shooter scored 122 points.
Ratna, who was placed 7th in the same event in the last edition of Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010, finished third in the qualification round and sixth in the finals until she got eliminated despite scoring 10.5 in her last shot. Apurvi Chandela of India won gold medal while her compatriot Ayonika Paul and Malaysian shooter Mohamed Taibi clinched silver and bronze respectively.
It is worth mentioning here in this regard that Ratna showed glimpses of her talent in 2010 Commonwealth Shooting Championships in New Delhi by winning the silver medal, but she has failed to improve her skills while the other shooters have gradually improved. Ratna participated in the London Olympics also after attending a three month intensive training program in London prior to the Olympics.
Meanwhile, Syeda Sadia Sultana, Ratna’s partner in the 10 meter Air Rifle Team Event fared poorly also as she failed to get even into the top eight.
Bangladesh’s performance in swimming also doesn’t depict a pretty picture as Mahfuzur Rahman Sagor finished 28th in the men’s 100m freestyle swimming and failed to qualify for the finals. Sagor started well but fell behind in the last 25 meters and was placed 4th in heat 6 clocking 52.97s.
However, it was a decent start for Bangladeshi weightlifters in Glasgow yesterday as young Fayema Akther and veteran Hamidul Islam finished second and third respectively in their respective group. Fayema secured second place in the group B of women’s 58kg event while Hamidul became third in the group B of men’s 69kg event.