PUNE:
Jitu Rai got a big boost just months ahead of the
Rio Games
by clinching gold in the men's 50m free pistol event in
ISSF World Cup
in Bangkok (Thailand) on Friday.
Jitu, who has kept a low profile for the last four months, made a comeback by outshining Beijing Olympics gold medallist Wei Pang and London Olympics bronze medallist Zhiwei Wang, both from China.
The Army shooter underwent a surgery to remove stones from his gall bladder in November last year. He took a break for almost a month before undergoing a 55-day training camp at the Army Marksmanship Unit in Mhow.
Jitu qualified for the eightman final by shooting 562, third behind Wei (564) and Wang (563) respectively . In the final, he hit an 8.8 in the opening shot, but recovered with a 10.3 in the next shot. The 28 year-old marksman then shot a series of 9s, but it didn't bother him much as his opponents shot lower scores in the final.
To his advantage, Jitu didn't shoot too many eights.Wei was leading the finalists till the 12th shot, but six eights in a row brought him down to second position. The Chinese finished with 186.5 in the 20shot final, while Jitu won the gold with a total 191.3 -with a cushion of 4.8 points.
"This medal has reaffirmed that I can win at the Olympics too. I am working hard towards reaching my goal," Jitu said after the match.
Another Indian in the event, PN Prakash, couldn't qualify for the final and finished 17th with a total of 549 in the qualification round.
Friday's medal was Jitu's second gold and fifth medal overall in World Cups. In a span of three years, the Nepalborn shooter has won medals at all levels except the World Cup Finals and the Olympics.He has already qualified for the Rio Olympics.
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