A few minutes after winning India’s first gold at the 17th Asian Games here on Saturday, shooter Jitu Rai was at the range again, trying to perfect his shots. There was no time for celebrations after his 50m free pistol triumph at the Ongnyeon Shooting Range where he upstaged World and Olympic champion Jin Jongoh of South Korea.
Even the media conference he was supposed to attend, after a mandatory dope test, was cancelled at the last minute.
“He has the 10m air pistol (where Rai is the world No. 1) event tomorrow morning, he needs to focus on that,” said Russian Pavel Smirnov, India’s pistol shooting coach, as he watched Rai finish the day quietly on Saturday.
India does not win gold medals in shooting easily at the Asian Games. In fact, it has won just six in the entire history of the Games before Rai’s effort here.
But Rai is not entirely Indian. He was born in Nepal and came to India only in 2006 and is now settled in Lucknow.
Very few expected Rai, the silver medallist at the recent world championships, to walk away with the gold after Jongoh had broken shooting’s oldest world record while winning in Spain.
Buckling under pressure
But while Jongoh, who topped the qualification round, buckled under home pressure in the final, Rai kept his cool. And with Shweta Chaudhary winning the women’s 10m air pistol bronze, the country’s first medal at Incheon, Indians had plenty to celebrate.
“It was all about handling pressure and I did it better,” said the 27-year-old Rai, a Naik Subedar with the Gorkha Regiment. “I knew there would be pressure. I had tried to beat him at the worlds too but I could not succeed. So, I went all out today, took chances.”
Rai was seventh after the qualification round, but, with the scores of this round not added to the final series, he was ready for the next round.
In the end, Jongoh could finish only seventh with Vietnam’s Nguyen Hoang Phung and China’s Wang Zhiwei taking the silver and bronze.
Om Prakash and Omkar Singh, the other Indians in the fray, failed to make the eight-man final after finishing 10th and 16th respectively.
Shweta takes bronze
Meanwhile, Shweta was third time lucky. She had to fight many odds for her maiden Asiad medal which came in her third Games.
With her pistol being held up with the airport customs here, as the number of the equipment was not conveyed to the authorities in Incheon, she had to use a spare.
“My weapon number was not there so they kept it at the customs in Incheon. I had been talking to them for the last three days and when it didn’t come, I made up my mind that I would shoot with a spare weapon.
“I have not used it before in competitions,” said the 28-year-old Shweta, who had missed the Commonwealth Games team.
“This is my biggest and best medal in shooting so far.”
China’s Zhang Mengyuan and world champion Jung Jeehae, the gold and silver medallists in the event today, were way ahead of Shweta.
Heena Sidhu, the former world No. 1, had a disappointing day failing to make the final after finishing 13th while Commonwealth Games silver medallist Malaika Goel was 24th.
India also finished fourth in the men’s 50m free pistol team event while the women took the fifth spot in the 10m air pistol.
The results :
Men : 50m free pistol: 1. Jitu Rai 186.2 (559); 2. Hoang Phuong Nguyen (Vie) 183.4 (568); 3. Wang Zhiwei (Chn) 165.6 (561); 10. Om Prakash 555; 16. Omkar Singh 551.
Team : 1. China 1692 (NMR); 2. Korea 1670 (281); 3. Vietnam 1670 (267);4. India 1665.
Women : 10m air pistol: 1. Zhang Mengyuan (Chn) 202.2 (381); 2. Jung Jeehae (Kor) 201.3 (384); 3. Shweta Chaudhry 176.4 (383); 13. Heena Sidhu 378; 24. Malaika Goel 373.
Team : 1. China 1146 (289); 2. Chinese Taipei 1141 (285); 3. Mongolia1140; 5. India 1134.
