Indian looks to Mairaj, Anant, Gill in World Cup shooting

A six-member Indian skeet shooting squad is set for the ISSF World Cup Shotgun stage in Lonato, Italy. Olympians Mairaj Khan, Anant Naruka, and Bhavtegh Gill will lead India’s charge

Hyderabad: A six-member Indian men’s and women’s skeet shooting squad will take their first aim on Sunday as the competitions for the international season’s fourth and final International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Shotgun stage get set to blast off at one of the sport’s traditional amphitheaters, the Trap Concaverde in Lonato, Italy.

While the skeet squad has already arrived in the Italian town well in time and hit the training ground, a further six members of the trap team are expected to arrive later in the day.

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The qualifying rounds of the men’s and women’s skeet competitions will begin on Sunday, with the first 50 targets on the roster for both events. The athletes will return on Monday for 50 more targets before the final round of 25 targets is played out on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, ahead of both the finals.

Indian hopes will rest with Olympians Mairaj Ahmad Khan (WR 105) and Anant Jeet Singh Naruka (WR 23) as well as Bhavtegh Gill (WR 43) in men’s skeet, while the women also have two Olympians—Maheshwari Chauhan (WR 13) and Raiza Dhillon (WR 21)—amongst their ranks, besides the accomplished Ganemat Sekhon (WR 63).

A crack American trio led by the legend Vincent Hancock, Italians led by Gabriele Rossetti, Abdullah Al-Rashidi of Kuwait, Nasser Al-Attiya of Qatar, Azmy Mehelba of Egypt, Jesper Hansen of Denmark, and Lee Meng-Yuan (Paris bronze) of Chinese Taipei headline a top field in the men’s skeet, and the Indians will be up against it to make the top six.

In women’s skeet, an even bigger American shotgun legend, Kimberly Rhode, will lead another top American team, while Vanesa Hockova (WR 3) of Slovakia, who was fourth in the Paris Olympics, will be the highest-ranked athlete in the fray.