jitu rai
Jitu Rai has won his first gold medal of 2016Jitu Rai / Twitter

Indian shooter Jitu Rai has won a gold in the 50m pistol event at the 2016 ISSF (International Shooting Sport Federation) World Cup in Bangkok, Friday.

The 28-year-old Nepalese origin shooter brushed off competition from China's Olympic Champion Pang Wei and Olympic Bronze medallist Wang Zhiwei — who stood second and third respectively — to win the honours. 

Jitu finished with a final round score of 191.3. The win is all the more special because the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games gold medallist was nursing a palm injury for some months and he had a relatively calm 2015.

He won three gold medals in 2014: in the ISSF World Cup in Maribor, in the Asian Games in Incheon as well as in the Commonwealth Games. 

Jitu Rai is now also in contention to bag another medal in the 10m Air Pistol event, the finals of which will take place Saturday. Gagan Narang and Chain Singh will also be seen in the Men's 50m Air Rifle event finals on the same day.