Jitu Rai bags Gold in Shooting World Cup

Jitu Rai bags Gold in Shooting World Cup

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Image Courtesy: © Twitter - Jitu Rai

Asian and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Jitu Rai added one more medal to his kitty on Friday after securing gold in the 50m Pistol event at the ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup in Thailand. After finishing third in qualification, the Indian shot 191.3 in the final to claim the yellow metal.

The Indian shooting star Jitu started out slow in the qualification with low scores in the early nineties. But he made a splendid comeback in the last two rounds as he found his rhythm. Eventually, Rai scored 562 points (92, 92, 91, 93, 96, 98) in the qualification round to finish third behind Chinese shooters Pang Wei and the 2012 Olympics bronze medallist Wang Zhiwei.

In the final, Rai again started slow with an 8.8, but found his range with his next shot, which scored 10.3. The Indian continued his form in the next shots and finished on top with 191.3 points to claim the gold medal. Pang Wei finished second with 186.5 points while Wang Zhiwei won the bronze with a distant 165.8 points.

A delighted Jitu said, "This was the first world cup in 2016 and I am really happy to start with a gold. But the real target is the Rio Olympics. I want to win a gold for India at Rio and there is a lot of work still to be done. The NRAI, Army and OGQ are supporting me a lot towards my Olympic dream," a media release from OGQ said. 

(Read the story of India's shooting sensation - Apurvi Chandela)

The other Indian in the fray, Prakash Nanjappa, finished 17th in the qualification round after scoring 549 points.

Jitu Rai had qualified for the Olympics in 2014 after winning silver in the 51st World Shooting Championship in Spain, while Prakash Nanjappa had secured the Olympic spot in 50m pistol by finishing eighth in the event in the 2015 World Cup final in Azerbaijan.  

(Read about the performeance of Indian shooters in the South Asian Games) 

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