ISSF World Cup: India shoots gold in skeet mixed team
Angad Singh Bajwa and Ganemat Sekhon beat Kazakhstan in the skeet mixed team final to clinch gold. Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Parinaaz Dhaliwal fell short of bronze.
The in-form pair of Angad Singh Bajwa and Ganemat Sekhon won gold in the skeet mixed team event at the ISSF World Cup in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The Indian shooters beat Kazakhstan’s Olga Panarina and Alexandr Yechshenko 33-29 in the final at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range.
This was the third medal of this ISSF World Cup for the impressive Ganemat Sekhon. She made history by winning bronze in the individual women’s skeet – India’s first ISSF World Cup medal in the category – and then also won silver in the women’s skeet team event.
For Tokyo Olympics quota holder Angad Singh Bajwa, it was a second gold medal in as many days – he had also triumphed in the men’s skeet team event on Monday.
Both teams were tied after the first series of 20 shots, both missing three to score 17.
The Indian shooters then dealt with the wind better in the second series, scoring seven of their first eight shots. Both Olga Panarina and Alexandr Yechshenko missed two shots each, which dropped them back.
Angad Singh Bajwa was then successful with each of his remaining six shots, while Ganemat Sekhon missed two.
However, the Kazakhstan shooters went to miss three of their 12 shots, which was enough to give India the gold medal.
Meanwhile, another Indian pair Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Parinaaz Dhaliwal narrowly missed out on the bronze medal as they fell 31-32 to Qatar.
In the first series, Qatar’s Rashid Hamad and Reem Al Sharshani scored 14 out of 20, while the Indian shooters shot 13.
Mairaj Ahmad Khan, who has already earned a Tokyo Olympics quota place, and Parinaaz Dhaliwal then drew level after the first four shots of the second series – missing one shot to Qatar’s two.
Rashid Hamad and Reem Al Sharshani were then successful with each of their remaining six shots and crucially, Parinaaz Dhaliwal missed one of hers, which confirmed the bronze for the Qatar team.
India still lead the medal tally with 15 – seven golds, four silvers and four bronze medals.
Three Indians qualify for 50m Rifle 3P men’s final
Two-time Olympian Sanjeev Rajput, Niraj Kumar and Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar were the Indian shooters to qualify for the men’s final of the 50m Rifle 3 Positions.
Sanjeev Rajput topped the qualification rounds with a score of 1172. Niraj Kumar and Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar both shot 1165 to enter the final, which will be held on Wednesday.