Anantjeet Singh Naruka-Maheshwari Chauhan win national title in skeet mixed team

Shotgun shooters Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Maheshwari Chauhan clinched the skeet mixed team title at the National Shooting Championship Competitions 2024 in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Maheshwari Chauhan, who narrowly missed out on a medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics after finishing fourth in the same shooting discipline, defeated two-time Olympian Mairaj Ahmad Khan and his partner Areeba Khan 44-43 in the final.

Ganemat Sekhon and Abhay settled for bronze with a 44-41 win over Raiza and Ishaan in the other medal match.

Earlier in the day, Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Maheshwari Chauhan scored 143/150 to top the qualifying round ahead of Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Areeba Khan, who scored 141.

At the Paris Olympics, Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Maheshwari Chauhan shot 146/150 for fourth place, before losing to the People’s Republic of China’s Jiang Yiting and Lyu Jianlin 44-43 in the bronze medal match.

Anantjeet, 26, has been a standout performer for India this year. The Asian Games silver medallist from Hangzhou 2023 also claimed bronze in the trap event at the ISSF World Cup Final in October and a silver in skeet at the Asian Championships in January.

Maheshwari, 28, won the gold medal at the Asian Championships earlier this year in the women’s team event and has two individual bronze medals from the continental meet to her name.

India’s National Shooting Championship Competitions 2024 for shotgun events are being held at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi. The national championships will conclude on January 19.