West Bengal Rifle Association conducts workshop under former Olympian Jitu Rai to help pistol shooters in Bengal

Shooting has always held a special place in Indian sports, and Bengal has long been a hub for rifle shooters. However, there's a fresh wind of change in the air, one that promises to give Bengal’s aspiring pistol shooters the boost they've been waiting for quite a time now.

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16 shooters were trained under Jitu Rai

A Pistol Workshop under the guidance of Shri Jitu Rai, a former Olympian and Padmashree awardee, was held at the Howrah Modern School Shooting Range from October 18th to 20th, in a collaboration between Jitu Rai and the West Bengal Rifle Association, to bring new energy and optimism to the state's pistol shooting scene.

Jitu Rai, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award winner in 2016, trained sixteen athletes, chosen from various clubs and units across Bengal during this workshop. The workshop aims not only at training these athletes in the technical performances of pistol shooting but also at making them stronger for pressure situations.

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Post the workshop, the two-time Commonwealth Games and one-time Asian Games gold medalist shared, "An annual development program will be good for gross development and I am to dedicate myself to uplift Bengal pistol shooting. We can expect 4-8 players in the national ranking next year."

The West Bengal Rifle Association also believes that the association with someone like Jitu Rai will immensely help budding shooters from the state and will be pivotal in shaping their future.