Asian Games gold medallist and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardee Jitu Rai is on national duty.
Promoted to the rank of Subedar Major in the Army, Jitu has flown to the North-East to be with his regiment.
“There is no sport happening. I thought, why waste time. It is the best time to serve the Army and the country. That is my priority ahead of sports,” says Jitu, who moved from his family base in Indore.
On reaching his destination and his unit, Jitu had to be in quarantine for 21 days, before reporting for duty and getting the promotion. “I never ignore shooting. I am carrying my gun and get to practice dry-firing for about one or two hours every day,” says Jitu, who had made the Olympic final in Rio.
He has won World Championship silver, apart from a bunch of medals at World Cups and Commonwealth Games.
“I know that I can come back into the national team and aim for an Olympic medal again,” says Jitu, who married Sushmita after the Rio Olympics and has a one-year-old son Jishu.
He is at a place he has not been before and is happy about the fine atmosphere, even though there is a “big responsibility” on his shoulders.
“Whether it is sports or the Army, I will do my job with the same devotion and concentration,” says the 32-year-old Jitu.
Jitu joined the Army in 2006 and at the behest of his officers trained in competitive shooting and became a world-class shooter.
