Anantjeet Singh Naruka, Raiza Dhillon Keep India's Hopes Of Individual Medal Alive In Asiad Skeet Shooting
India's top skeet shooter Anantjeet Singh Naruka strengthened his chances of making the Asian Games final on Tuesday, producing a superb 96 out of 100 to move into a four-way tie for the lead after four rounds of qualification.
India's top skeet shooter Anantjeet Singh Naruka strengthened his chances of making the Asian Games final on Tuesday, producing a superb 96 out of 100 to move into a four-way tie for the lead after four rounds of qualification. The 28-year-old Olympian and World Cup Final bronze medallist shot 24 and 25 on the opening day before following it up with 23 and 24 on Tuesday to stay firmly among the leaders at the shotgun range. With one more round of 25 targets remaining, Naruka is well placed to make the eight-shooter final and challenge for a medal.
Naruka's composed performance provided some relief for the Indian shooting contingent after an otherwise disappointing day, with the 10m air rifle mixed team of Elavenil Valarivan and Parth Mane failing to make the medal rounds.
The final qualification round of 25 shots will be held on Wednesday, following which the top eight shooters will advance to the medal round.
While Naruka remained in the hunt, veteran Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Bhavtegh Singh Gill were left out of contention after struggling in an elite field. Mairaj finished the day on 91 (23, 22, 23, 23), while Gill was on 86 (21, 23, 20, 22).
Among the leading contenders is Qatar's Nasser Al-Attiya, the former World Rally Championship winner and 2012 London Olympics bronze medallist, who is on 95 and tied for fifth place with four others.
India's hopes of a team medal have also taken a severe blow. The trio's aggregate of 273 leaves them joint fifth, well behind leaders Qatar (283). Kazakhstan are second on 280, while Chinese Taipei and Kuwait share third place on 278.
With just one round remaining, India face a sizeable deficit in the team competition.
In women's skeet too, India remain in the hunt for individual and team medals.
Raiza Dhillon is best placed, sitting on 92 (25, 21, 22, 24) after four rounds and placed fifth. She will need another composed effort in Wednesday's final qualification round to secure her place in the medal contest.
Parinaaz Dhaliwal, on 89 (23, 21, 21, 24), is tied ninth with a Qatari shooter and also remains in contention for the final. A strong final round could take her into the top eight.
Olympian Maheshwari Chauhan, however, is virtually out of the individual race at 85.
The women's team remains in third place on 266, behind China (287) and Kazakhstan (274), although the 21-point gap to the leaders and eight-point deficit to Kazakhstan leaves the Indians with little margin for error in the fight for the top two positions.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)