Indian skeet shooters miss finals at ISSF World Cup in Almaty

Indian skeet shooters failed to qualify for the finals in both men’s and women’s events at the ISSF World Cup Shotgun in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Olympians Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Raiza Dhillon emerged as the top Indian performers in the qualification rounds

Hyderabad: Indian skeet shooters missed out on a spot in the finals in both the men’s and women’s events at the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Cup Shotgun, which got underway on Tuesday at the Asanov Shooting Club in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Olympians Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Raiza Dhillon finished as the best among the Indian athletes.

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Mairaj, who started day two in 26th place after shooting 71 out of 75 on Monday, shot 23 and 25 in the final two series to end the qualification stage in 18th place with a total of 119. Bhavtegh Singh Gill, who was competing for ranking points, was the next best performer, also with a final score of 119 (24,24,23,24,24), to finish one place below Mairaj in 19th place.

Olympian Anantjeet Singh Naruka started the fourth series with a perfect 25 and followed it up with a score of 23 to finish his first World Cup of the season in 38th place with a final score of 117.

The third Indian in the fray, National Champion Gurjoat Singh Khangura, finished in 54th place with a score of 115 after shooting 22 and 23 in his final two series. Abhay Singh Sekhon, who was also competing for ranking points, shot 23 and 20 in the fourth and fifth series respectively for a total of 113 to finish in 71st place.

In the women’s event, Ganemat Sekhon, who ended day one just one place below the top eight, could only manage 22 and 20 in her final two series to drop down to 33rd place with a total score of 112. Raiza Dhillon finished as the best among the Indian athletes with a score of 115 (22,23,24,23,23) to secure 17th place.

Parinaaz Dhaliwal finished one place above Ganemat in 32nd place with a score of 112 after shooting 24 and 22 in the final two series. Vanshika Tiwari and Rashmmi Rathore, competing for ranking points, finished in 29th and 47th places with scores of 112 and 102 respectively.