Auckland shooter Greg Yelavich added to his already outstanding Commonwealth Games record when he combined with Alan Earle today to win the silver medal in the pairs 25m centrefire pistol.
It was Yelavichs 12th games medal. He won two gold medals and a bronze at Edinburgh in 1986 and 24 years later, in his seventh Commonwealth Games, is still going strong. He won further medals in 1990 (two silver, one bronze), 1994 (one silver, two bronzes), 1998 (one bronze) and 2006 (one silver). He first represented New Zealand as a shooter in 1978 and since then has won 72 national pistol titles.
Yelavich , 53, and Earle totalled 1140 points, some distance behind gold medallists Vijay Kumar and Harpet Singh of India, who scored 1159.
The New Zealanders shaded Singapore pair Bin Gai and Lip Meng Poh (1139) to grab the silver.
Yelavich and Earle combined well, with Yelavich notching 574 points from a possible 600, the equal third-best individual score, and Earle 566. They bounced back from a poor opening, when their combined 375 from 400 placed them only sixth equal.With two of the three brackets shot, New Zealand had improved to fifth equal.
With a brilliant final bracket of 386, Yelavich and Earle overtook Singapore, Canada and Pakistan to claim an silver
Shooting manager Gavin Paton described the effort as "awesome".
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