Rio World Cup: Disappointing build-up to Olympics for Jitu Rai as he finishes sixth

Rio de Janeiro: India’s Jitu Rai finished sixth in the men’s 50m pistol event on the fifth day of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup (Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun) being held at the Olympic Shooting Centre. Jitu, who is the world number one in the event, qualified for the finals in fourth position, shooting a score of 563. He began the finals on the backfoot, registering two shots of eight points each to start with. He seemed to regain composure with three consecutive shots of 10 after that, but a 7.9 in his ninth shot and 8.7 in his 10th put paid to all hopes of a medal. [caption id=“attachment_1722653” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Jitu Rai. AP[/caption] Jitu was eventually eliminated after the 12th shot to claim sixth place. Earlier, Jitu’s teammate Prakash Nanjappa had finished 19th in qualification with a score of 556. Oleh Omelchuk of Ukraine won the gold in the event. In the other event of the day, the men’s Double Trap, Indian youngster Ankur Mittal led the qualifications till the third round of 30 shots each, only to see his hopes of making the finals fade away after shooting scores of 23 and 24 in the last two rounds. He eventually finished 21st with a total score of 131. The finals cut was made at 136. India’s Mohammed Asab finished 26th with a score of 125 while Sangram Dahiya shot 124 to end 27th. Australia’s James Willett won the gold in the men’s Double Trap event while Russia’s Vasily Mosin took the silver and USA’s Walton Eller ended up with the bronze medal.