Fernandez and Galvez trap Spain’s first gold in Tokyo

TOKYO: Alberto Fernandez’s rock-steady hands helped Spain grab their first gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday as he collaborated with Fatima Galvez to win the new trap mixed team event at the Asaka Shooting Range.

The Spaniards had topped the qualifying rounds to storm into the gold medal match but Galvez looked a bundle of nerves against San Marino’s Gian Marco Berti and Alessandra Perilli.

She missed five of her first eight targets, including the first three in a row, before taking a timeout.

Fernandez held steady at the other end, however, and missed only one of his 25 targets as Spain prevailed 41-40.

“Because of the light, I didn’t see the target nicely. But the rest of it was nice,” Galvez said of her nervy start.

CHRISTEN DOMINATES WOMEN’S EVENT: Nina Christen of Switzerland won her maiden Olympic Games gold with a victory in women’s 50m rifle 3 positions.

Taking a 10m air rifle bronze a week ago, the 27-year-old set an Olympic record of 463.9 points for the gold, improving the previous mark held by German Barbara Engleder by 5.3 points.

Russian shooter Yulia Zykova, who rewrote the Olympic qualification record at 1,182 points earlier, bagged silver with 461.9 points. Her compatriot Yulia Karimova won her second bronze following the one in 10m air rifle mixed team event.

Earlier, the duo of Anjum Moudgil and Tejaswini Sawant in the event continued a sorry show for the Indian shooters, failing to make it to the finals of the event at the Asaka Shooting Range.

Anjum, silver medallist at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, finished 15th with a score of 1167 and 54 Xs, while Tejaswini was placed 33rd with a score of 1154 and 50 Xs, with the top-eight qualifying for the final.

Yulia Zykova of the Russian Olympic Commitee (ROC) had topped the qualification with an Olympic record of 1,182 with 78 Xs, inclusive of a hat-trick of perfect 100s in prone position.

Other finalists included Sagan Maddalena of the US, Jolyn Beer of Germany, Yulia Karimova of the ROC, Andrea Arsovic of Serbia, Nina Christen of Switzerland, Ziva Dvorsak of Serbia and Jeanete Hegg Duestad of Sweden.