Jitu Rai: Indian Army soldier is a shooting ace who was born in Nepal

Indian shooting ace Jitu Rai has won gold for India in the 10-meter air pistol event at the Commonwealth Games 2018 in Australia's Gold Coast. This is Rai's second CWG medal. He had won gold in the 50-meter pistol event at the CWG 2014 in Scotland, Glasgow.

Jitu Rai, 29, is a Naib Subedar in the Indian Army's 11 Gorkha Rifles. He was born in the Sankhuwasabha district of eastern Nepal, as the fourth of five siblings. He spent his early life in Nepal and moved to India to join the Army. He is now an Indian citizen who represents India in the 10 and 50 meter shooting events in competitions worldwide. 

Rai had opened his international medals tally for India at the CWG 2014 in Glasgow, with a gold in the 50-m pistol event. 2014 would turn out to be his break-out year. He went on to win silver at the World Campionships in Granada, and followed up with a gold and a bronze in the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea. He also won two silvers and a gold in the ISSF World Cup 2014 in Germany's Munich and Slovenia's Maribor. Rai had a disappointing outing at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro. 

He was awarded India's highest sporting honour, the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna by the Indian government in 2016. It was the first time the award had been conferred on four athletes at the same time. The other three medallists for India who received the Khel Ratna with Rai were PV Sindhu, Dipa Karmakar and Sakshi Malik.