Sunday, July 29 2012

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ROGER DANIEL failed in his bid to reach the final, and eventually earn a medal, in the 10-metre air pistol event at the Royal Artillery Barracks yesterday.

Daniel, the first Trinidad and Tobago participant at the London Olympic Games, had a miserable display, as he finished 36th out of a field of 44 in the qualifying round - the top eight advanced to the final later on the day.

He had a tally of 568 points with scores of 97, 94, 94, 93, 94 and 96 in his six efforts.

The 42-year-old will now turn his attention to the 50m pistol competition on August 5.

In the qualifiers, South Korea’s Jin Jong-Oh topped the group with 588 points, followed by China’s Pang Wei (586) and Serbia’s Andrija Zlatic (585).

Later in the day, Jin Jong-Oh claimed gold with a score of 688.2 - 6.9 points shy of the world record.

Carrying over a two-point lead from the qualification round, Jin rarely looked in danger of being caught.

Italy’s Luca Tesconi’s excellent form in the 10-shot final saw him recover from fifth place to snatch silver on 685.8 points, while Zlatic took bronze with 685.2.

Defending Olympic champion, Pang Wei, had a disappointing final, and dropped from second to fourth.

Jin, who got silver in the event at the Beijing Games four years ago in addition to gold in the 50m pistol discipline, came to London as one of the favourites, having won the Asian Championship earlier this year.

The 32-year-old, known as the “Undaunted Man”, held a 4.4-point lead at the halfway stage of the final but that was gradually cut to 1.3 as Tesconi, an Italian police officer, produced some fantastic shooting under pressure.

But with his last effort, a fantastically composed Jin — who will seek to retain his 50m title on August 5 — scored a near-perfect 10.8 points to wrap up victory.

Trinidad and Tobago’s 2004 Olympic Games 200-metre individual medley bronze medallist, swimmer George Bovell III will be in action today in the 100m backstroke preliminary round.

The 28-year-old, at the Aquatics Centre, has been drawn from lane eight in heat two, from 6.03 am (TT time).

In related news, the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) launched its official London 2012 Olympic magazine on Friday.

The 60-page magazine was designed by Ken Henry with veteran sports journalist Valentino Singh as the editorial consultant.

TTOC president Larry Romany described the publication as a reflective look at TT’s Olympic Games history from 1948 until now.

“The TTOC always published souvenir magazines or brochures from the (Olympic) Games,” said Romany. “Interest in the magazine is very high.

“We distribute to the local schools, corporate TT, IOC (International Olympic Committee), Olympic museum, TTOC affiliates and corporate partners, athletes, coaches and officials,” he continued. “The countries participating at the Games will all get a copy.”

Plans are afoot for a digital version of the magazine to be made available as demand in the past has always outstripped supply, with this year’s copy being no exception.