With seven medals this year, shooter Jitu Rai might be India's brightest sporting star

Maybe now Jitu Rai will get some respect. With his Asian Games gold in the 50m pistol, the Nepalese-born shooter who once grew paddy, corn, potatoes on his family farm, has won a medal in every competition he has entered this year, including a remarkable run of three world cup medals in nine days in June. Yet the Uttar Pradesh government remained immune to his achievements. So much so that before the Asian Games, a demoralised Jitu publicly stated he might switch states. “I will probably refuse to accept their prizes and rewards,” he said last month. “I am contemplating requesting other states. If they don’t want to recognise my achievements they can tell me, I might represent some other states. Look at Haryana, Punjab. [caption id=“attachment_1722955” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Jitu Rai (center) with his gold medal. AFP[/caption] “I have all the documents with me; the address in my passport says Lucknow’s 11 Gorkha Regiment Recruitment Centre, what else I can do. Why are they behaving like this, why the confusion. Instead, they instead should encourage and motivate me to do better.” His Asian Games gold seems to have finally woken up the Uttar Pradesh government. Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has announced a cash award of Rs 50 lakh for Jitu. “It is the least Jitu deserves,” Viren Rasquinha, the ceo of Olympic Gold Quest, which supports Jitu, told Firstpost over the phone. “If you ask me, based on sheer merit, Jitu has been India’s brightest sporting star this year.” Jitu’s successes this year include a silver in the world championships in the 50m pistol, world cup gold and silver at 10m air pistol and 50m pistol events in Maribor, a world cup silver in 10m in air pistol Munich and gold in the 50m pistol at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Throw in the Asian Games gold at 50m pistol and the bronze in the 10m air pistol team event and that is seven medals in 2014 for Jitu. No other Indian athlete can match that record and Jitu’s performances have lifted him to no. 5 in the world rankings in the 50m pistol and to No. 1 in the 10m air pistol. Such consistency has not been Jitu’s forte in the past. He was even sent back to his Army unit from the shooting squad in 2010-11 after performing poorly. 2014 appears to be the 27-year-old Jitu’s breakout year. “It is hard to pin point any any one thing,” Rasquinha said. “There has been a general maturing. [National] coach Pavel Smirnov has given him time. he has also learned a lot from Vijay Kumar, who is one of his mentors. “To be successful at shooting, a lot of things have to come together: Training, concentration, warm-up, preparation, your weapon.” While OGQ has has also worked to reduce off-field stress by doing the little things like getting Jitu a back-up pistol, Rasquinha said the shooter and his coaches deserved all the credit. Jitu has worked very hard on his fitness. Shooters often suffer from neck, back and shoulder problems because they stand for hours in one position while training. A twitchy neck or tingling spine affects posture and stability and can distract a shooter from his or her target. That’s why it is vital for a shooter to be in good shape physically. “They [shooters] are able to concentrate and focus longer if they are fitter,” Rasquinha said. “If you see Jitu, he is one of the fittest shooters in India, I would say even among world shooters. He has a very good work ethic and works very hard in training.” With his sack full of medals, Jitu will now get a well deserved break for a month. “The thought of relaxing for such a long period energised me for the final shot,” he said after winning the gold. With the 2016 Olympic Games just two years away, let’s hope Jitu now gets all the support and encouragement he needs to be at his best in Rio. What happened to bronze-medallist Shweta Chaudhry at the Asian Games should serve as a warning. South Korean customs officials did not allow her to bring her gun into the country, saying it had a different serial number than the one on her customs declaration. Without a team manager from the National Rifle Association of India, Chaudhry had to sort out the situation and find a replacement weapon all on her own. That she still won bronze is a testament to her mental strength and an indictment of India’s sporting ministry, which originally refused to send managers to the Games. Athletes should be allowed to concentrate on their sport. “We should do everything to ensure Jitu has no distractions off the field,” Rasquinha said.