Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Skeet shooting came to India’s rescue at the Asian Games on Wednesday as the men’s and women’s teams both won bronze medals, giving the country’s campaign at the range a much-needed lift.
The women’s team of Parinaaz Dhaliwal, Raiza Dhillon and Maheshwari Chauhan made history, winning India’s first Asian Games medal in skeet. The trio finished with 331 points from 375 to take bronze behind China and Kazakhstan.
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China dominated the competition with a Games-record 357 points, while Kazakhstan claimed silver with 336.
India’s score was built over three rounds of qualification, with each shooter completing five series of 25 shots. Parinaaz and Raiza both finished on 111, while Maheshwari contributed 109.
Raiza and Parinaaz also made the individual final, but neither could add to India’s medal tally.
Raiza, an Olympian, remained in the hunt deep into the eight-shooter final before finishing fourth with 23 points. Parinaaz could not reproduce her qualification form and was the first shooter eliminated, ending the final in eighth place.
China’s Jiang Yiting produced the performance of the day in the individual event, winning gold with 35 points to equal the world record.
MEN ADD SECOND BRONZE
Anantjeet Singh Naruka, Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Bhavtegh Singh Gill followed the women’s team onto the podium, combining for 346 points to win bronze in the men’s team event.
Qatar took gold with 353, while Kuwait finished second with 348. Naruka, however, was left to rue another missed opportunity in the individual event.
The 28-year-old had been among the leading contenders throughout qualification. He shot 96 from 100 over the first two days to sit joint top of the standings alongside three others.
A score of 23 in his final qualification round took some shine off his performance, but his aggregate of 119 was enough to send him into the eight-man final.
Naruka stayed in contention but eventually finished fourth.
Qatar’s Rashid Saleh Al-Athba won gold with an Asian record of 34. The experienced shooter, who has World Cup medals and Asian championship success to his name, held off China’s Lyu Jianlin, who took silver with 33.
Chinese Taipei’s Lee Meng-Yuan won bronze with 29.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
