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Raiza, Naruka on target, India's Olympics shooting quotas touch 19
The skeet duo seals berth with second-place finish at the Asian Shotgun Championships in Kuwait City
India's quota count for the Paris Olympics swelled to a record-extending 19 with skeet shooters Raiza Dhillon and Anant Jeet Singh Naruka finishing second in their respective competitions at the Asian Shotgun Championships in Kuwait City on Saturday.
With this, India, who had 15 spots for the 2021 Tokyo Games, have inched closer to the maximum quota mark of 24 — the country can earn two quota spots each in trap and skeet (men and women), and one berth in women’s air pistol.
On a sunny day at the Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Olympic Range, India had three finalists in women with Ganemat Sekhon and Maheshwari Chauhan also making it to the podium. Chauhan took bronze (43 hits) while Sekhon, a multiple World Cup medallist, was fourth (30). Raiza, 19, hit 52 of 60 targets to finish behind China's Gao Jinmei, who took gold with 56 strikes.
A 2023 junior World Championships silver medallist, Raiza had qualified for the six-shooter final on Friday in the last spot after a four-way shoot-off featuring Chauhan, Qatar's Reem Al Sharshani and Thailand's Sutiya Jiewchaloemmiton — all four were tied on 115/125 points. Sekhon was second in qualification (117), behind Gao (119).
The Chinese shooter didn't drop the intensity in the final. Raiza shot brilliantly, hitting 29 out of the first 30 targets and 37 out of the first 40. Gao, however, held firm in the final stretch while Raiza blinked. A second place though was enough to earn India a quota. (The berth is for the country, although in most cases the shooter who earned it is selected).
In men, Munek Battula and Gurjoat Singh Khangura failed to qualify for the final after finishing 18th and 20th respectively in qualification on Friday. Naruka, the reigning national champion and Asian Games silver medallist, qualified for the final in second place after shooting 121/125 targets. China's Ma Chenglong topped the qualification with 122 hits.
Naruka maintained his form in the 60-shot final, hitting the clay target 56 times, but Chinese Taipei's Meng Yuan Lee shot 57 to take gold. Kuwait's Mohammad Aldaihani was third (47).
The Indian men's team of Naruka, Khangura and Battula came third (347), behind China (353) and Kuwait (350). The women's team won gold (347), beating China (342) and Kazakhstan (333). India now have five medals in the Championships.
Sunday will feature the Mixed Team Skeet competition.
