Harpreet wins men's 25m rapid fire pistol silver

Glasgow, July 29 (IANS) Shooter Harpreet Singh opened India's medal count Tuesday by clinching the silver in the men's 25-metre rapid fire pistol finals at the Commonwealth Games here.

Australian David Chapman won the gold in style, setting a new Finals Games Record (FGC) with a final score of 23 while Harpreet took the silver with 21. England's Kristian Callaghan clinched the bronze with 17 at the Barry Buddon Shooting Centre.

Chapman and Harpreet were level at 19 points on the seventh and penultimate round but the 49-year-old Australian shot a series score of 4 in the last round to the Indian's 2, which gave him the yellow metal.

This is Harpreet's third medal at the Commonwealth Games. The 33-year-old Karnal born had also won two golds in the 2010 Delhi Games in 25m centre fire pistol -- in pairs and individual events.

Earlier Tuesday, Olympic silver medallist Vijay Kumar failed to qualify for the finals.

In Stage 2 of qualification, Harpreet finished fourth with a total score of 281 points while Vijay could only manage 274 to end his campaign in eighth as only the top six qualified.

Harpreet had topped Stage 1 of qualification Monday evening while Vijay had finished fourth.