India won their first gold medal at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi after two-time Olympian shooter Jitu Rai clinched the top position in the 50m men’s air pistol event on Wendesday.
His compatriot Amanpreet Singh settled for the silver in the same event at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range.
Jitu, who fired 230.1 points to finish on top also won the bronze medal in the 10m pistol event on Tuesday.
Competing in his maiden World Cup, Amanpreet shot a total of 226.9 to bag the silver while the bronze medal went to Iran’s Vahid Golkhandan, who shot a total score of 208 points.
Earlier, in the qualification round, Amanpreet had led the charts with 561 points while Jitu was second with 559 points. They had finished first and second respectively in that round.
Jitu has now won nine World Cup medals, including two this year. He had also qualified for the Rio Olympics but finished eighth in the finals.
India’s medals tally at this World Cup stands at five with Pooja Ghatkar winning bronze in the women’s 10m air rifle on the opening day of the event while Ankur Mittal added a silver in the double trap event.
India are placed fourth on the medal table behind leaders China (six gold, six silver), Italy (two gold, one bronze) and Australia (two gold).
“I wanted to win this gold as a combined World Cup was happening for the first time in India and I wanted to see the Tricolor fly the highest in front of the home fans,” an emotional Jitu said.
In the two other medal events of the day, Thailand won their first gold medal of the competition when Naphaswan Yangpaiboon emerged champion in the women’s 25M Pistol.