Asian Games 2026: Double bronze for Indian skeet shooters | Hindustan Times

Over three demanding days of intense qualification where orange clay targets sliced through the sky at the Aichi Prefectural Shooting Gallery in Toyota, India’s shotgun shooters displayed immense patience and sharp marksmanship to secure a double podium finish in skeet shooting at the 20th Asian Games on Wednesday.The Indian contingent clinched bronze medals in both the men’s and women’s team events, though individual podium finishes narrowly eluded the shooters later in the session with fourth-place finishes in both finals.The women’s trio of Raiza Dhillon, Parinaaz Dhaliwal and Maheshwari Chauhan scripted history by securing India's first-ever Asian Games medal in the women’s skeet team event.Entering the final day of qualification in third place after four rounds, the trio held off pursuing nations across five nerve-wracking rounds spread over three days. Raiza and Parinaaz led the scoring with matching totals of 111 out of 125 while Paris Olympian Maheshwari provided crucial support, recovering from a tough opening round of 19 to finish on 109. Together, their combined tally reached 331, sealing third place behind gold medallists China — who set an Asian Games record of 357 — and silver medallists Kazakhstan (336).Matching the women's brilliance target for target, the Indian men's skeet team delivered an equally captivating performance to secure another bronze medal for the country.The journey to the bronze was fuelled by remarkable individual resilience. Chandigarh’s young sensation Raiza displayed tremendous composure under pressure, shooting scores of 25, 46, 68, 92 and finishing with 111 out of 125 to qualify for the individual final in joint eighth place. Matching her target for target was Patiala's Parinaaz, whose steady sequence of 23, 44, 65, 89, and 111 saw her join Raiza in the final in ninth position. She made the cut for the final as the top three were all Chinese shooters and Games rules suggest only two from a nation can make the cut.Meanwhile, Maheshwari provided the essential foundation, recovering brilliantly from a tough opening round of 19 to shoot 42, 63, 85 and finish at 109 to secure 12th place, failing to qualify for the individual final.In the men’s skeet team event, Jaipur's Anant Jeet Singh Naruka anchored the effort with an impressive 119 out of 125 across three days. Veteran Mairaj Ahmad Khan, 50, drew on two decades of experience to contribute 116, while 23-year-old FISU World University Champion Bhavtegh Singh Gill added 111.The trio accumulated a total score of 346, finishing level with Kazakhstan. In a tense shoot-off for the final spot on the podium, the Indian shooters held their nerve to edge out Kazakhstan and lock down the bronze medal. Qatar won gold with 353, while Kuwait claimed silver with 348.While team glory marked the highlight of the day, individual medals slipped away in heartbreaking fashion for India's final bound shooters.In the men's skeet individual final, Naruka put up a spirited fight but finished fourth on 25/28, falling a single point short of a medal. Qatar’s Rashid Saleh Al-Athba captured gold with an Asian record score of 34, followed by China's Lyu Jianlin (33) for silver and Chinese Taipei's Lee (29) for bronze.In the women’s final, both Raiza and Parinaaz advanced to the eight woman shootoff while Maheshwari finished 12th in qualification. Raiza came close to securing her second medal of the day, ultimately finishing fourth with 23 hits.Parinaaz bowed out in eighth place with eight hits. China's Jiang Yiting took gold with an Asian and Asian Games record score of 35, followed by Thailand's Isarapa Imprasertsuk (31) and Kazakhstan's Assem Orynbay (28).