NEW DELHI: Ace shooters
Jitu Rai and
Heena Sidhu delivered India its first medal at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rifle/Pistol series being held in Gabala, Azerbaijan by combining superbly to claim gold in the mixed team 10m air pistol event.
Jitu and Heena forged a stirring recovery from 0-4 to 7-6 to beat Russia, thus giving India's shooting contingent at the tournament reason to cheer. The pair had also won gold at the
ISSF World Cup
held in New Delhi earlier this year. The mixed team air pistol event is one of the new events added for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
During the tournament, India's
Sanjeev Rajput could not qualify for the final of men's 50m rifle prone event, in which 2012 Olympic medalist
Gagan Narang
was 25th. In the 10m air pistol event, Jitu - a two-time Times of India Sports Awards (TOISA) winner - finished 12th after he shot a total of 576, ahead of
Prakash Nanjappa
(575) and Omkar Singh (574).
In all, 430 athletes from 45 countries are competing for medals at the Gabala World Cup, which is the last chance for rifle and pistol shooters to qualify for the ISSF World Cup Finals, which has the eight best shooters of the world in each Olympic discipline along with reigning Olympic and World Championship medalists and wild-cards squaring-off with each other.
India are represented by a 23-member Rifle and Pistol squad. There are 12 women and 11 men in the squad.