Jitu Rai wins gold in 50-metre pistol event at ISSF Shooting World Cup
In-form Jitu Rai continued his medal run, clinching gold with yet another strong comeback while compatriot Amanpreet Singh took silver in the men’s 50 metre pistol event at the ISSF Shooting World Cup here on Wednesday. Their effort took India to fourth in the standings with one gold, two silver and as many bronzes.
China lead the medals tally with six gold and six silver, while Italy (two gold, one bronze) and Australia (two gold) are second and third, respectively. Jitu, who picked up a bronze in the 10 metre pistol event on Tuesday, begun tentatively in the finals before slowly finding his way up.
The Armyman shot a total of 230.1 — a world record — to clinch the yellow metal but it wasn’t without drama. Amanpreet, who was leading for a major part of the final, had to be satisfied with the silver aggregating 226.9. Iran’s Vahid Golkhandan took bronze with 208.0.
The 29-year-old Jitu was sixth at the end of the first two competition series of five shots each with 93.8. At that point, Amanpreet led the eight-man field at 98.9.
The Punjabi shooter had a series of high scores to surge ahead, even as Rai made his way back into contention after a start that included a horrendous 6.6.
A stunning 10.8 in one of the elimination rounds proved to be crucial for Rai, who jumped from sixth to third place, and knocked out Kazakhstan marksman Vladimir Issachenko in the following round with a 10.5.
Shots of 10.4 and 10.0 kept Jitu in contention, while Amanpreet suffered a meltdown.
After upstaging Golkhandan, Jitu comfortably got the better of Amanpreet in the gold medal round, finishing the event with an excellent 10.5.
In other events, home shooters failed to qualify for the finals. In the women’s 25m rapid fire pistol event, Muskan finished 12th with 576, while Rahi Sarnobat was 23rd.
In women’s skeet, Rashmee Rathore ended 17th, Arti Singh Rao was 24th and Saniya Sheikh was 27th in the qualification stage.
It’s amazing to win this gold medal during the first combined World Cup held here in India. It’s a great honour and a true emotion to see the Indian flag atop the podium.
JITU RAI