Jitu Rai on Wednesday said he 'enjoys' fighting his way back from difficult situations.
A star-studded Indian shooting contingent will begin their Rio Olympics campaign on Saturday with in-form Jitu Rai hoping to launch the country's medal haul in an event which will also see his more illustrious senior colleague Abhinav Bindra aiming to end his glorious career on a high.
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.
Indian shooters selected for the two stages of the World Cup in Argentina and Peru have begun their final phase of preparations for the season ahead.
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.
Indian shooter Manavjit Sandhu rallied to third place after the second day of qualification in the Men's Trap Shooting event at the ongoing International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup being held at Rio di Janerio's Olympic Shooting Centre.
There was some cheer for India after two barren days as the duo of Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu triumphed in the 10 metre mixed team air pistol event of the ISSF World Cup.
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.
In an unprecedented move, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the country's highest sporting award, will be conferred on four athletes this year. The Sports Ministry announced on Monday that Olympic medalists P V Sindhu and Sakshi Malik will be honoured alongside trail-blazing gymnast Dipa Karmakar and ace shooter Jitu Rai.
Continuing his good run of form, pistol shooter Jitu Rai clinched a silver medal in the ISSF World Cup in Maribor, Slovenia, after Ayonika Paul bagged her maiden international medal as a senior shooter by settling for a bronze in the 10m air rifle event.
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.
Ace pistol shooter Manu Bhaker will lead a 35-member Indian team in the season-opening ISSF World Cups in April in South America.
Jitu Rai struck gold twice with his pistol while Kerala's swimming sensation Sajan Prakash continued to shatter records and accumulate gold medals, adding a fifth to his tally, on the fifth day of competitions in the 35th National Games in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday.
Rana hardly minced words as he questioned the federation's tendency to make last-minute changes to its policy, and its stubborn refusal to acknowledge or facilitate the presence of shooters' personal coaches at national camps and trials.
Former Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs has expressed his interest in the vacant managerial positions at Premier League sides Leicester City and Everton.
Indian shooters Prakash Nanjappa, Amanpreet Singh and Jitu Rai made a clean sweep in the 50m pistol event at the Commonwealth Shooting Championships
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.
Shooters' preps lacked planning, says Olympian Vijay Kumar
The Indian contingent's schedule at the Rio Olympics for Wednesday.
Team India's Jasprit Bumrah, India women's cricketer Harmanpreet Kaur and shooter Heena Sindhu have exceeded expectations to make the cut.
Five-time chess world champion Anand and nine-time world champion Sethi will be mentoring the high-profile athletes signed up by Olympic Gold Quest, who are looking to improve India's showing from the last Games in London when they won six medals.
Gagan Narang on Friday won the bronze medal in the 50m Rifle Prone Event of the ISSF World Cup at Fort Benning in US, earning himself a quota place for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
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.
Indian shooters continued their dominance at the Barry Buddon Shooting Range with Jitu Rai and Gurpal Singh bagging a gold and silver respectively in the men's 50m pistol event in Glasgow on Monday.
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.
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.
Beijing Olympics gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, who is competing in his fifth Games, led the Indian contingent at the parade of nations during the Open Ceremony of the Rio Olympics on Friday night.
The Indian contingent's schedule in the Rio Olympics for Saturday.
The five shooters had to first spend a few hours at the Atlanta Airport after KLM airlines shut the gates before they could board, leaving them with no choice but to spend 12 hours in the terminal where they were forced to sleep on benches and were also not provided with accommodation or food.
'I did work with him for few a days because my Federation asked me, saying 'just give him a chance and see if it works for you'. But it was sort of miserable. I don't want to work with him. I don't find him competent enough'
Indian men settled for a bronze medal after narrowly missing the silver in the 10m air pistol event at the Ongnyeon shooting range, continuing their good run in the 17th Asian Games in Incheon on Sunday.
India's schedule on Day 1 of competition at the Asian Games in Incheon.
The ranges are bursting at the seams with young talent and Indian shooting's present state could be a harbinger of hope for a perfect future.
As the curtain comes down on 2014, here's a look at the five best performances over the last 12 months. And, guess what? Two Indian sportsmen figure in the list!
Rajasthan's Mahaveer Singh and Tejaswini Sawant of Maharashtra were among the shooters to have won the gold medals on the 10th day of the 56th National Shooting Championship in New Delhi.
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.
Olympic bronze medal-winning wrestler Sakshi Malik is all set to be conferred with the country's highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.
Women archers were on target in the individual events, while Manoj Kumar scripted a triumph of the underdog in the boxing ring on the fifth day of the Rio Games.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
Gold medal-winning javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra was the undisputed star as the Indian track and field team returned from the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games to a warm reception in New Delhi.
