Jitu Rai: From a village lad to a national hero.

10 April 2018: Jitu Rai of the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) Mhow is all smiles after having set a new Commonwealth Games record in the 10m Air Pistol event at the XXI Commonwealth Games being held  at Gold Coast Australia. 

Jitu had joined the 11th Gurkha Rifles as a young village lad from Nepal who had lost his father (also a soldier of the Indian Army). He was identified as a potential ace shooter and brought to the AMU Mhow for specialised coaching. He has been undergoing rigorous training there. He was even sent back twice to his parent unit (5th Battalion 11 Gurkha Rifles) when his performance slipped. Since 2014 he has been on a medal winning spree and even though he missed out on an Olympics medal at Rio his best is yet to come. Looking forward to more medals from you Jitu.

L to R: Kerry Bell (Aus) Silver medal, Jitu Rai Gold medal, Om Prakash Mitharval, Bronze medal.

His colleague from AMU Mhow Om Prakash Mitharval won the bronze medal (214.2/261.6) and the Australian shooter Kerry Bell won the silver (235.5/261.6). Om Prakash is also an Infantry man, he belongs to the Rajputana Rifles regiment.

The shooters trained at the Army Marksmanship Unit Mhow have so far won 556 medals in various international competitions and have done the nation proud. 

Pics courtesy Army Marksmanship Unit, Mhow.

Commonwealth Games Shooting Heroes Arrive Home

Above: Home are the heroes... Shooters Jitu Rai and Gurpal Singh who won Gold and Silver respectively in the 50 m pistol event at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games being received at the Indore airport by their comrades of the Army Marksmanship Unit Mhow, on friday (01 Aug)  evening....Pic courtesy AMU Mhow.

                 Above: Jitu Rai in action. Pic courtesy: AMU Mhow

Above: Gurpal Singh in action. Pic courtesy: AMU Mhow

From Army Marksmanship Unit(AMU),Mhow to the Commonwealth Games 2010, New Delhi

Nine shooters from Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) Mhow were part of the 36 member shooting squad at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games 2010 at New Delhi. These were: Seema Tomar, Vijay Kumar, Gurpreet Singh, AD Peoples, Imran Hasan Khan, C.K. Choudhary, Hariom Singh, Sushil Ghaley, Praveen Dahiya.





Above: Article by Firoz Mirza in HT Live, Indore (Oct 7 2010) a supplement of Hindustan Times.

4 of these nine shooters won 5 Gold, 2 Silver and a Bronze medal either individually or in pairs.

They are: (1) Vijay Kumar - 2 Gold and a silver. Gold in 25 m (Pairs), Gold in Centre fire Pistol (Pairs), Silver in 25m Centre Fire Pistol (Individual)

(2) Gurpreet Singh - 2 Gold and a Bronze. Gold in 25 m Pistol Rapid Fire (Pairs), Gold in 10 m Air Pistol (Pairs), Bronze in 25 m Pistol Rapid Fire (Individual).

(3) Imran Hasan Khan - Gold in 50 m Rifle 3-Position (Pairs).

(4) C K Choudhary - Silver in 25 m Standard Pistol (Pairs).