Shooter tides over India's sporting woes

If split-second accuracy is a champion shooter's hallmark, Abhinav Bindra's historic gold medal at the Beijing Olympics could not have been timed better.

Bindra's victory in the men's 10m air rifle event on Monday, which gave India its first-ever individual Olympic gold, came on a day when nothing else went right in the sporting world for the country.

India's cricket superstars crashed to a Test series defeat in Sri Lanka, tennis beauty Sania Mirza pulled out of the Olympics with a wrist injury and weightlifter Monika Devi stayed home due to official apathy.