New Delhi: Continuing his brilliant form Jitu Rai clinched gold medal with yet another stirring comeback and compatriot Amanpreet Singh bagged silver in men’s 50m pistol event as India secured their first yellow metal of the ongoing ISSF World Cup here Wednesday.
Entering the event a day after claiming the 10m pistol bronze, Rai upped the ante as the final closed in on the elimination rounds. The unassuming Army-man shot a total of 230.1 points, a world record, to finish on top of the podium, while Amanpreet, who was leading for a major part of the final, had to be satisfied with the silver after aggregating 226.9 points. Iran’s Vahid Golkhandan got bronze with 208.0 points at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range.
The 29-year-old Rai was placed sixth at the end of the first two rounds comprising of five shots each with 93.8. At that point, Amanpreet was leading the eight-man field with a score of 98.9.
A stunning 10.8 in one of the elimination rounds proved to be crucial for Rai, who jumped from sixth to the third position, and knocked out Kazakhstan’s renowned marksman Vladimir Issachenko in the following round with a 10.5.
Rai kept up the tempo with two scores of 10.4 and 10.0, while Amanpreet, after a fine start in his first World Cup final, suffered a meltdown.
After upstaging Golkhandan, army marksman Rai comfortably got the better of Amanpreet in the gold medal round, finishing the event with an excellent 10.5 to lay his claim on the top prize.
“It’s amazing to win this gold medal here during the first combined World Cup in front of my supporters. It’s a great honour and I cannot describe my emotion with the Indian Tricolour atop the podium,” Rai said after the prize-distribution ceremony.
After another poor start, Rai had to be on his guard to avoid elimination in the following competition shots. He then got his act together and shot his way into medal contention with a series of good scores.
Rai qualified the tournament here after winning two World Cup medals and one in the World Cup Final, where the 10 best shooters from around the world take part.
“I closed the 2016 season with a World Cup Final silver, and I always dreamt about starting 2017 in the best way here in India. I wanted our flag to fly high,” Rai pointed out.
PTI
