Champion Indian shooter Jitu Rai has preceded his Rio Olympics 2016 stint with a silver medal at the Men’s 10m Air Pistol Event at the ISSF World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan today.
He finished in second place behind Brazilian sport shooter Felipe Almeida Wu of Brazil; 24-year-old Wu is a silver medal winner at the Junior Olympics in his category. Rai shot 199.5 in the finals for the silver medal finish.
Although he finished at 10th in the men’s 50m air pistol, he made up for that finish in the 10m category. The Indian held the World No. 1 ranking in both categories simultaneously for a period of time and has been proficient at both.
Rai has been extremely successful at the ISSF World Cup, winning six medals at the tournament over the past three years, with the first of those coming at the 2014 World Cup in Munich, Germany.
Prior to his silver today, Rai most recently medaled at the ISSF World Cup in Changwon, South Korea in 2015, finishing with a bronze in the men’s 10m air pistol.
Rai qualified for the RIo 2016 Olympics in Granada, Spain following a silver medal win at the men’s 50m pistol event at the ISSF World Championships there. That win made him the first Indian shooter to qualify for the Olympic Games.
His experience and prowess make him one of India’s best medal bets at Rio.
