After Rio Olympics heartbreak, Jitu Rai shoots silver at World Cup in Italy

The Khel Ratna awardee shot a score of 188.8 to finish behind China's Wei Pang at Bologna.

New Delhi: Indian shooter Jitu Rai made a stunning comeback after suffering Olympic melt-down in Rio to win a silver medal in the men's 50m pistol event of the ISSF World Cup Final on Thursday.

The Khel Ratna awardee shot a score of 188.8 to finish behind China's Wei Pang (190.6) at Bologna, Italy. Italian Giuseppe Giordano settled for the bronze medal with a score of 170.3.

He was regarded as one of India's biggest medal hopes at the 2016 Olympics, but failed to deliver, failing to win a medal in either of pistol events (10m and 50m)

Later, he took to Twitter to expressed his delight and also lamenting to the fact that his Rio performance was below-par.

"Rio 2016 Olympics ke baad maine aaj pehla match khela Italy mai. Rio mai acha nahi raha tha mera performance," he wrote.

Rio 2016 Olympics ke baad maine aaj pehla match khela Italy mai. Rio mai acha nahi raha tha mera performance. (1/3) — Jitu Rai (@JituRai) October 6, 2016

Aaj Silver medal jeeta World Cup Finals mai with National record score in 50m FP. Bahot khush hu performance se. (2/3) pic.twitter.com/OZj0rg14Yw — Jitu Rai (@JituRai) October 6, 2016

Taking the opportunity, the Army marksman revealed that it was indeed a strong field at Bologna, and thanked both Army and Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ).

"Aaj Silver medal jeeta World Cup Finals mai with National record score in 50m FP. Bahot khush hu performance se.

World cup finals mai duniya ke top 10 shooters ate hai. Army, @OfficialNRAI and @OGQ_India ko dhanyawad mujhe support karne ke liye.(3/3) — Jitu Rai (@JituRai) October 6, 2016

"World cup finals mai duniya ke top 10 shooters ate hai. Army, @OfficialNRAI and @OGQ_India ko dhanyawad mujhe support karne ke liye," he added.

Jitu had earlier won a silver medal at the ISSF World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan in the 10m Air Pistol event.