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.

Ace Shooter Jitu Rai Gets Ready For The Commonwealth Games

According to an article by Sabi Hussain in the Times of India dated Feb 28, 2018 Jitu Rai is using meditation, swimming and yoga to stay mentally and physically fit. "I am practising at the Army Marksman Unit in Mhow and not at the national camp. The target is to win medals at the CWG, Asian Games and ISSF World Championships in South Korea. I am leaving for Mexico to compete at the first World Cup of the season in Guadalajara in March. There are no injury concerns and I am confident of delivering results,” said Jitu.     More here. 

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

A New Shooting Star from Mhow

Naib Subedar Jitu Rai of Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) of the Indian Army gave two back to back sterling performances at the ISSF World Cups held at Munich, Germany and Maribor, Slovenia, by winning Silver medals at both events.

On 11 Jun 2014 Naib Subedar Jitu Rai won Silver medal in 10m Air Pistol event at ISSF World Cup, Munich and on 16 Jun 2014 he has also won Silver medal in 50m Free Pistol event by scoring 568 out of 600 at ISSF World Cup, Maribor and established New National Record in the event.

Sep Neeraj, attending his first International tournament, brought laurels to the nation at the ISSF Junior World Cup (25 May to 01 Jul 2014), Germany by winning two Silver and one Bronze medal . The Army Shooters have done the country proud by their superb performance.