Anantjeet Singh Naruka: Asian Games silver medallist and national champion Anantjeet Singh Naruka brooked no opposition in the men’s skeet national selection trials 1, even as Raiza Dhillon trumped national champion Ganemat Sekhon in the women’s skeet trials, here at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting range on Friday. Rajasthan’s Naruka and Haryana’s Raiza, both shot down 58 targets in the 60-shot final to register victories.
Naruka, who is running high on confidence after the Asian Games feat in Hangzhou, where he gave Skeet shooting legend Abdullah Alrashidi of Kuwait a run for his money, shot 24 early in the morning in the final qualification round, to finish on top of the 40-strong field with a score of 121 out of a possible 125.
He then missed one target on his very first station in the six-man final, but only one more after that, to leave behind former India shooter Sheeraz Sheikh comfortably in second place. Sheeraz shot 56, while Gurjoat Khangura was third with 45 hits in the first 50 targets.
Sheeraz, on a comeback after a gap of two years, also looked poised throughout the day, coming second in a four-man shoot-off for two final qualification spots. Gurjoat won the shoot-off to take the other spot.
In women’s skeet, Raiza was in great form throughout the three-day competition and shot three rounds of a perfect 25, to top the qualifiers with a score of 122. She would have broken Ganemat’s standing national record by two, had scores of trials been considered.
India’s No.1 Ganemat shot a perfect 25 on the day to get into the final in second place with a score of 120. There was no stopping Raiza however, as she shot down 58 targets to Ganemat’s 54 in the final, to win. Rajasthan shooter Maheshwari Chauhan bowed out in third with a score of 43.
The skeet final concluded the first Shotgun National Selection trials and the second is due to come up in Bhopal from December 15-21, 2023.