ISSF World Cup: Jitu Rai, Heena Sidhu win gold in mixed Team 10m air pistol event
Indian pair Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu have won the âgold badgeâ in the 10m air pistol event - although a format not recognized by the Olympic council - at the ISSF World Cup on Monday. The event introduced for the first time has garnered widespread support for being more spectator-friendly.
Jitu Rai, who was the only shooter to clinch gold at the 2014 Asian Olympic Games at Incheon and has several World Cup medals to his credit, paired with Heena Sidhu for the event. The duo put a brake on a string of disappointing performances by the Indian shooters, who have managed to get only one bronze medal (Pooja Ghatkar in 10m air rifle) by winning the top
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Australia coach Petr Kurka threw his weight behind the new format and said, âThatâs the stuff shooting needs. People should talk about it instead of just sit, clap and go home.
âWhen you see one shooter do well and his teammate, kind of, mess up the hard work, you end up comparing. From a spectatorâs point of view, this is good,â he added.
The new format, however, has also received opposition from some quarters as Hungaryâs Peter Sidi, who won a silver in the 10m air rifle event, called it âboringâ.Â
âItâs just playing, you know. Like passing time. This is not a real event,â Sidi said. âNobody knows what is happening. We are just learning the event as it was being played. The rules could be better. It is a little bit boring.â