New Delhi, Jan. 31: The Karni Singh shooting range became the second Commonwealth Games venue after the revamped Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium to be dedicated to the nation by sports minister M.S. Gill here on Sunday.

The venue was completed in a record 14 months at a cost of Rs 150 crores considering that all the existing structures were pulled down and built from scratch in order to conform to Commonwealth Games Federation and International Shooting Sports Federation standards. The renovated stadium drew praise with Gill terming the venue as one of the best shooting facilities in the world. “I think, it (shooting range) is the best in the world. The range has been equipped with all up-to-date technical facilities. I feel it is also the best in terms of the scenic view and landscape,” Gill told reporters after inaugurating the range here on Sunday.“When I first visited it in 2008, I was little apprehensive. I was in doubt whether it can be completed on time but in just 14 months it is ready and the credit goes to all those who are involved in the venture,” he added.His views were backed by Commonwealth Shooting Federation chief Graeme Hudson, who returned to the country on the request of the sports ministry after being forced to resign as the sports manager (shooting) for the October 3 to 14 Games by the Organising Committee and the National Rifle Association of India.“It is a world-class shooting range. I would certainly rank it among the top three in the world if not number one. It has all the state-of-the-art facilities,” Hudson said.The New Zealand-based shooting expert felt the Commonwealth shooting championship from February 17 to 28 is the perfect opportunity to test the facilities of the range.

Age Correspondent***Jyoti ends T-57th at Qatar MastersDoha, Jan. 31: Jyoti Randhawa signed off with a modest one-under 71 to finish tied 57th but Shiv Kapur returned a 76, his worst card of the week, for a share of the 64th place in the Qatar Masters golf tournament here on Sunday.Randhawa totalled five-over 293 with his second sub-par round of the week to join five others in the 57th place, one shot ahead of Kapur. Swede pro Robert Karlsson shot a flawless seven-under 65 to aggregate 15-under 273 to thwart Spaniard Alvaro Quiros’ (67) title defence with a three-shot triumph.Randhawa had bogeys on the third and fifth holes but sank birdies on the seventh, 10th and 16th holes to finish with a sub-par card.***Anand gets past old foe KramnikWijk Aan Zee, The Netherlands: World champion Viswanathan Anand outmanoeuvred Russia’s Vladimir Kramnik in the 12th round to rise to the third spot in the elite Group A of the Corus chess tournament here.After his second victory in three rounds, Anand moved to third spot in the overall standings with seven points out of a possible 12.Meanwhile Magnus Carlsen of Norway played out a draw with Peter Leko of Hungary to emerge as the sole leader on eight points, a half point clear of Kramnik and Shirov. — PTI***Bindra matches Beijing effortNew Delhi: Ace Indian marksman Abhinav Bindra equalled his Beijing Olympics qualification score at the international shooting competition in Munich on Sunday.He shot an impressive series of 99, 99, 100, 99, 100 and 99 to equal his Beijing Games qualification score of 596 out of 600, which fetched him the Olympic gold in 2008.Bindra had also scored 596 at the RIAC Cup at Luxembourg in December last year.He is participating in the international competitions in Europe as part of his training schedule.     — PTI