Ace shooter Jitu Rai bags men's 50m pistol in Nationals with record score; helps Army win team gold

Thiruvananthapuram: Ace Indian marksman Jitu Rai on Friday won the men’s 50m pistol national title with a new national record score of 233 at the 61st National Shooting Championship in Thiruvananthapuram.

Rai got the better of Navy man Omkar Singh, who shot 222.4 in the finals, while Jitu’s army teammate Jai Singh secured bronze with an effort of 198.4. Rai’s score of 233 was a new record in the finals of the event.

Rai also won the team gold in the event combining with Jai and Omprakash Mitherwal for a total of 1,658, besting Team Air Force, who managed a total of 1,626. Punjab with 1,624 won bronze.

Arjun Singh Cheema of Punjab won the junior men’s 50m pistol event, shooting 226.5 in the final.

Surinder Singh, his state-mate shot 221.9 for silver while Anmol Jain of Haryana won bronze with 205.1. Arjun and Surinder along with Mankaran Preet Singh also won the junior men’s team gold in the event, where Haryana won silver and Delhi the bronze.

A total of 4800 men and women shooters from across the country are participating in the 61st Shooting Nationals including 200 wild card entries.