Jitu Rai, the world number one in men's 50m pistol, shot a 555 in his elimination round to sail through to the qualification round of the event, to be contested on Thursday, along with the finals, on day four of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup (Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun) being played in Rio De Janerio's Olympic Shooting Centre.
India's in-form shooter Jitu Rai gave the country its first gold medal in the 17th Asian Games, cutting through a tough field to finish on top in the 50m pistol event in Incheon on Saturday.
India ended their campaign at the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, with a gold in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions (3P) mixed team competition, after Swapnil Kusale and Ashi Chouksey beat Ukranians Serhiy Kulish and Daria Tykhova 16-12, in the gold medal match.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Jaspal Rana says 'too much' is being expected from teenage prodigies like Manu Bhaker and Anish Bhanwala
Abhinav Bindra said he is not in favour of boycotting the 2022 Commonwealth Games
Will India finally reach the elusive double-digit mark? Raj Kishore Mishra, former joint secretary at the sports ministry, for one, is willing to stick his neck out on the possibility.
The Indian Olympic Association has been fined $10,000 for withdrawing teams from the Asian Games at a late stage, but All India Tennis Association chief Anil Khanna is hopeful that the penalty would be withdrawn.
Anish Bhanwala made history on Friday, becoming the country's youngest gold medallist at the Commonwealth Games on Friday. The 15-year-old achieved the feat after firing his way to the gold medal with a Games record in the men's 25 metres rapid fire pistol event at the Belmont Shooting Centre.
India's total medal count stood at 252 (132 gold, 79 silver, 41 bronze), leaving behind hosts Nepal and Sri Lanka behind. Nepal has won 165 medals (45 gold, 44 silver, 76 bronze) while Sri Lanka have collected 197 medals (36 gold, 68 silver, 93 bronze).
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.
Vijayveer Sidhu picked up his third gold medal of the ongoing ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany, combining with Rajkanwar Singh Sandhu and Adarsh Singh to clinch the men's 25m pistol event.
'The tank battle was fought at ranges of 300-700 metres.' 'It was a rare example of the complete destruction of a squadron by another squadron.'
American Kristin Armstrong became the first cyclist to win the same road event at three different Olympic Games on Wednesday. Britain's surprise packet Joseph Clarke won the Canoe gold in the K-1 slalom course on Wednesday.
Jitu Rai on Wednesday said he 'enjoys' fighting his way back from difficult situations.
Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar bagged India's 13th Olympic quota in shooting with a bronze medal in men's 50m rifle 3 positions at the 14th Asian Championship.
All the three, aged between 25 and 33 are believed to be of Pakistani origin
India's pistol ace Jitu Rai displayed good form to sail through to the qualification round of the men's 50-metre pistol event on the opening day of the ISSF World Cup in Munich on Saturday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
Apurvi Chandela won the gold in the women's 10 metres air rifle event on the concluding day of the 58th National Shooting Championships.
India's squash ace Dipika Pallikal will be in action against the formidable Nicol David in the semi-final round on Monday, the third day of the Asian Games.
The focus is firmly trained on teen sensation Manu Bhaker as the fancied Indian shooting team eyes a head start at the 21st Commonwealth Games
'He deserved to be field marshal because he carried the air force and navy with him in '71. Remember we were fighting on two fronts -- east and west. He stood out.'
Chandela shot an astonishing 252.9 in the eight-women final, finishing 1.1 points ahead of silver medallist China's Ruozhu Zhao (251.8) points.
It was mixed day for Indian shooters at the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup as Olympic medallists Abhinav Bindra and Gagan Narang failed to qualify for the final round of the men's 10m Air Rifle event, while Jitu Rai progressed to the qualification round in 50m Pistol on the opening day at Fort Benning, United States on Thursday.
Ace shooter Jitu Rai won India's first senior medal at the 13th Asian Shooting Championship, finishing second behind Korea's Park Daehun in the finals of the men's 50m pistol, in Kuwait City, on Wednesday.
Mehuli Ghosh's effort will, however, not be considered as a world record, as the South Asian Games' results are not recognised by the international body (ISSF) for the purpose of records.
The 28-year-old's comment came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with 2018 Commonwealth Games medallists in the national capital on Monday.
This time, India may win as many as 17 medals at the Games.
Impressed with the performance of the Indian shooting contingent in Gold Coast, ace marksmen Jitu Rai is worried about the adverse effect that non-inclusion of the sport in the 2022 Birmingham Games will have on young talents.
Former Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra will lead the 25-member Indian shooting contingent in the third leg of the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup (Rifle/Pistol), to be held in Munich from May 19 to 26. The Indian team comprises of 17 shooters and eight officials. But with the Rio Games less than three months away, all eyes will be on those shooters, who are selected to represent India at the Olympics. Apart from Abhinav, other Indian shooters in the World Cup team who will also be heading to Rio include the likes of Jitu Rai, Gagan Narang, Chain Singh, Apurvi Chandela and Ayonika Paul, Gurpreet Singh, P N Prakash and Heena Sidhu.
Check out how Indian athletes fared on the second day of the 2016 Olympics.
Ace marksman Abhinav Bindra belied expectations after failing to qualify for the finals of men's 10 air rifle event in the 51st ISSF World Championships, his hopes of earning an Olympic quota in this tournament going up in smoke.
The men's and women's team won the air rifle event.
Captain Rani Rampal's clinical strike helped India beat South Africa 1-0 to seal their place in the semi-finals of the women's hockey event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, on Tuesday.
Police said that Pakistan-based Anees Ibrahim, who is brother of Dawood Ibrahim, was connected with the underworld operatives to execute the terror plan.
Six athletes from the track and field, shooting and weightlifting disciplines were on Wednesday inducted into the Target Olympic Podium Scheme, with the Sports Ministry including discus thrower Seema Punia and leaving out seasoned shooter Gagan Narang.
Unsparing on the under-performing shooters but equally scathing on coaches and the national federation, the Abhinav Bindra-led National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) review committee hardly minced words as it chastised the Rio Olympics flop show while recommending a systematic overhaul.
He joins pistol shooter Jitu Rai, rifle shooters Apurvi Chandela and Gagan Narang, who all had sealed berths earlier.
Madhuri Dixit's brief seems to have been to look glamorous, which she does, while others struggle to hold the film together, observes Deepa Gahlot, Maja Ma Review.
