In awe of the sensational Saurabh Chaudhary, former World championship silver-medallist shooter Jitu Rai feels the reticent youngster has it in him to humble one of the sport's all-time greats, South Korean Jin Jong-Oh, at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
The results ensured an unprecedented top finish for India across all four ISSF World Cup stages this year
Asian Games gold medallist Jitu Rai has been recommended for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for his exploits in pistol shooting in the last two years although he couldn't win a medal in the Rio Olympics. "Yes, we have recommended Jitu's name for Khel Ratna award," National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) secretary Rajiv Bhatia said. NRAI has also recommended woman rifle shooter Apurvi Chanela and men rifle shooters Gurpreet Singh and PN Prakash for the Arjuna Awards, according to Bhatia.
Shooter Heena Sidhu, from whom a lot was expected in the run-up to the ongoing Olympic Games, put up yet another flop show to finish a distant 20th in the 25m pistol event for women in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday. In the 30-shot precision round, Heena accumulated 286 points out of a possible 300 with series scores of 95, 95 and 96 that pushed her in the rear of the queue.
India's 16-year-old shooting sensation Manu Bhaker comfortably won gold in the women's 10 metres air pistol event as Heena Sidhu staged a remarkable recovery to secure silver at the 21st Commonwealth Games, in Gold Coast, on Sunday.
Ace shooter Sanjeev Rajput clinched the silver medal in the men's 50-metre rifle 3 position event at the ISSF World Cup in Baku, Ajerbaijan, on Tuesday. The Indian marksman scored 456.9 to win the silver medal in the last World Cup before the Rio Olympic Games.
For Sweta, this was the worst ever performance despite winning the gold in women's 10m air pistol finals.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday.
Anish wins 25m rapid fire pistol gold, silver for Esha at Junior World Cup
Indian shooters ruled the roost for the fourth successive day as they made a clean sweep of all the six gold medals on offer in the 12th South Asian Games, in Guwahati, on Saturday.
The 22-year-old former junior world champion recorded 236.7 in the eight-women final of the season's fourth World Cup for pistol and rifle shooters.
A look at Indian athletes' showing at the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday, July 27.
India's Heena Sidhu made a grand return to form by winning the gold medal in the 10m air pistol women's event at the 13th Asian Shooting Championship, in Kuwait City, on Friday.
However, Manu Bhaker and Abhishek Verma failed to qualify for the final of 10m mixed air pistol event.
Saurabh Chaudhary claimed the gold medal in the 10m air pistol event at the Youth Olympic Games, in Buenos Aires, on Wednesday, capping off the Indian shooting team's best-ever outing in the mega event on a rousing note.
I have designed an international level shooting range at home. I have named it 'Mission Olympic' and have written on them Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024'
For someone who took to shooting just a little over two years ago, winning two gold medals at a global event of this magnitude would easily qualify as some achievement.
Indian pistol shooters, on Wednesday, pulled off a clean sweep in the 10m air pistol event at the Commonwealth Shooting Championship with Shahzar Rizvi, Omkar Singh and Jitu Rai winning gold, silver and bronze medals respectively.
Jitu, who had won a silver medal in the free pistol competition, shot 200.8 in the final round to clinch the gold in the air pistol event.
Jitu, who had won a silver medal in the free pistol competition, shot 200.8 in the final round to clinch the gold in the air pistol event.
The International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) on Thursday agreed to NRAI's request for exchange of quota, paving the way for participation of Heena Sidhu in the women's Air Pistol event at the London Olympics.
In relief to shooters, the Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the Delhi high court judgment which held that licenses would be necessary for procuring air rifles and air pistols, which was coming in the way of their training and competition.
India sign off Paralympics with an unparalleled 19 medals: 5 gold, 8 silver, 6 bronze.
Deepak Kumar and Divyansh Singh Panwar finished a lowly 26th and 32nd respectively in the men's 10 metres Air Rifle event of the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday
Was it badminton sensation PV Sindhu, who became the first Indian to win the World Championships gold medal? Or is it the young shooting progidy Saurabh Chaudhary? Or his India colleague Elavenil Valarivan, who recently took over as World No 1? What about India's heroes on the cricketing field -- Virat Kohli? Rohit Sharma?
'An example is mixed pair test event over here in air pistol (which Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu won). So we have the best chance of picking up an extra medal in the two air events. That's why I believe it is in our interest, this change. I am not worried about it'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday, congratulated Indian shooters Saurabh Chaudhary, Abhishek Verma and Sanjeev Rajput for winning medals in the Asian Games in Jakarta.
Manu Bhaker ignored for Rashtriya Bal Puraskar award, her father fumes.
The national championship silver and junior world championship bronze-medallist, however, could not replicate her qualification form in the final, only managing a sixth-place finish with a score of 116.
The 16-year-old claimed the top honours in the men's 10m air pistol event at the season-opening ISSF World Cup.
Ace shooters Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu brought joy to the Indian squad competing at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Rife/Pistol stage at Gabala, Azerbaijan, when they clinched gold in the 10m mixed team air pistol event by beating Russia 7-6 in the finals on Monday.
Trap shooter Manavjit Singh Sandhu got the nod ahead of Sanjeev Rajput as the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) announced its final shooting squad of 12 for the Rio Olympic Games in New Delhi on Saturday.
Indian sporting fraternity on Saturday hailed shooters Manish Narwal and Singhraj Adana's 1-2 finish at the Paralympics, terming the feat as "stuff of dreams", with President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also lauding the duo for bringing glory to the country.
Olympic bronze-medallist Gagan Narang won a silver medal in the men's 50m rifle prone event of the Commonwealth Shooting Championships in Brisbane.
'This is another opportunity to do that, improve my medal and performance. I have got two team bronze in the Asian Games, and hopefully, I will improve my performance and maybe even get the gold'
Iran's Sepehr Boroujeni Safari emerged as the surprise gold medal winner ahead of the Indian fancied duo of Gurpreet Singh and Jitu Rai, who settled for silver and bronze respectively in the men's 10m air pistol event at the 8th Asian Air Gun Championship in New Delhi, on Tuesday.
India's ace shooter Manu Bhaker on Tuesday received her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a government hospital in Jhajjar, Haryana, three months before the Tokyo Olympics where she will enter as one of India's brightest medal hopes.
A day after clinching the 50m pistol gold in the ongoing Asian Games, Jitu Rai said he has not spoken to his mother for the last one month.
First-time Olympian Zhang Mengxue secured China's first gold medal of the 2016 Olympics on Sunday by winning the women's 10-metre air pistol event and extending China's gold medal streak in the sport.
The Indian contingent added seven more medals, including five gold, to their kitty on day three of the 13th Asian Shooting Championship, in Kuwait City, on Thursday.
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