Indian shooter Abhinav Bindra totaled 700.5 points to grab gold medal of the men's 10-meter air rifle after a hot chase in the final on Monday, winning his nation the first gold at the Beijing Olympic Games.

The 26-year-old shooter was ranked third after the qualification round, in which he achieved 596 points. Henri Hakkinen of Finland, with 598, and Chinese defending champion Zhu Qinan, with 597, ranked first and second respectively in the qualification.

Gold medalist in the 2006 Zagreb World Championships, Bindra pulled up his slacks from the beginning of the final, impressing spectators with a 10.7 in the first shot.

Zhu, however, didn't seem to be in good shape, firing a 9.9 at the third shot and hence plunged to the third.

Hakkinen did a decent job, but Bindra was better.

The Indian, with all his shots above 10 point, surpassed his Finnish rival after the seventh shot.

His lowest point was the eighth shot, a 10.0, when Zhu made a 10.6. This gave Chinese spectators a glim of hope.

But the Chinese 24-year-old Olympic record holder found his sharpness too late. After the ninth shot, he still had a 0.5-point gap behind the Indian.

In the breathtaking last shot, Bindra made a quick fire. 10.8 point to secure the gold.

After the competition, Indian spectators hurrahed and applauded for the victory.

Zhu stared at the big screen with his score, 699.7 points, for quite a while, struggling to hold back his tears.

Hakkinen got a bronze with 699.4 points.

(Xinhua News Agency August 11, 2008)