Manjit upsets Jitu Rai for national crown

Army Marksmanship Unit’s Manjit pipped team mate and Olympian Jitu Rai in the final of the men’s 50m pistol event at the ongoing 60th national shooting championship competitions at Pune’s Balewadi shooting range.

Manjit, who qualified for the eight-man final in third position with a score of 552, shot 187.4 in the 20-shot final for the gold. Jitu, who qualified fifth with 550 could only manage 185.7 in the final. Navy’s Omkar Singh won bronze with 164.8.

Manjit and Jitu also helped their AMU team win team gold in the event comprehensively, shooting a total of 1,642 in the company of Om Prakash. Air Force won silver with 1636 while Maharashtra took bronze with 1606.

In the junior men’s 50m pistol event, Punjab’s Arjun Singh Cheema beat Haryana’s Anmol Jain 183.4 to 181 in the final to claim gold. Mankaran Preet Singh of Punjab won bronze with 157.6.

Punjab also claimed the team gold in the event as Arjun, Mankaran and Surinder Singh totaled 1604. Haryana were second ahead of Uttarakhand.