A fit-again Jitu Rai edged past a strong field, including former Olympic champion Pang Wei, to clinch the 50m pistol gold at the ISSF World Cup in Bangkok on Friday.
A fit-again Jitu Rai edged past a strong field, including former Olympic champion Pang Wei, to clinch the 50m pistol gold at the ISSF World Cup in Bangkok on Friday.
Jitu, who had been nursing a palm injury for a few months, defeated the former world and Olympic champion, shooting a 191.3 to 186.5 by the Chinese.
Wang Zhiwei, also of China and an Olympic bronze medallist, was third with a final round score of 165.8. Prakash Nanjappa shot 549 in the qualification round to be placed 17th.
Jitu reached the final by finishing third at the end of the 60 shot qualifying series with a score of 562. Pang led the field of eight top qualifiers with a score of 564, while his countryman was second with 563.
Rai did not begin as strongly as he would have wanted to in the final however he maintained a top three position throughout.
Pang finally conceded the lead to Jitu after having below par 13th and 14th shots. The following two shots also saw a similar pattern and from then on, it was Jitu all the way as both the Chinese challengers had a tame end to the 20-shot final.
Saturday will see the finals of the men’s 50m prone and 10m air pistol events.
Rai will look to increase his medal tally in the pistol event while Gagan Narang and Chain Singh will lead India’s charge in the rifle event.
