Chateauroux (France): The Indian shotgun shooters Anant Jeet Singh Naruka and Maheshwari Chauhan made it to the skeet mixed team bronze medal playoff after finishing fourth in the qualification round, here on Monday. In the skeet team event, the top two pairs will shoot for gold, while the third and fourth-ranked teams will contest for the bronze medal.
The duo will be attempting to win India’s maiden medal in skeet competition in the Olympics. It will also be the first medal in the Mixed Team skeet event in the quadrennial event.
The Indian duo shot 146/150 in the 15-team qualification round, where Maheshwari starred with 50/50 in her final two rounds. Naruka, meanwhile, notched scores of 25, 23 and 24 in the three rounds. In the first round, Anant Jeet Singh Naruka scored 25/25 while Maheshwari notched 24/25 to take India’s total to 49, which placed them joint-second with Australia, France, South Korea and two Italian teams.
Anant and Maheshwari scored 23/25 and 25/25, respectively, in the second round, taking the total to 97 to be ranked sixth. In the third round, the Indians shot 25 and 24, respectively, to bounce back into the top four to seal the spot in the medal round.
India will go up against China in the bronze medal match at 6:30 PM IST at the Chateauroux shooting range.
Italy’s Gabriele Rossetti and Diana Bacosi shot 149/150 to equal the world qualification record. They will be joined by Vincent Hancock and Austen Jewell Smith of the USA in the gold medal match.
Anant Jeet and Maheshwari Chauhan will be hoping to win the fourth medal for India in the Paris Olympics. Till now, all three of India’s bronze medals have been bagged by the shooters.
Manu Bhaker won two of the three bronze medals, finishing third in the Women’s 10m Air Pistol Individual round and the 10m Air Pistol Mixed Team competition in the company of Sarabjot Singh.
Swapnil Kusale won the third bronze for India in the men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions competition.
–IANS
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