Mairaj, Ganemat best placed Indians after skeet round one in Lonato

Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Ganemat Sekhon emerged as the best placed Indian skeet shooters after round one on the opening day of competitions at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Shotgun in Lonato, Italy on Sunday. Mairaj shot rounds of 24 and 25 in men's skeet while Ganemat shot 23 and 25 in the women’s event, to emerge best placed among six Indians (three in each event) in contention.

With three more qualifying rounds coming up over the next two days ahead of the final on Tuesday, their chances of making the top six look brightest, given both are one behind the leading pack. Ganemat, who has two individual World Cup medals and was a finalist here in 2023, is in ninth spot, having shot a 25 in her second qualifying round, after opening with a 23.

Six women led by Mexican Gabriela Rodriguez are leading with 49 points each. Olympians Maheshwari Chauhan (24, 22) and Raiza Dhillon (22, 23), were further down in the pecking order. In men's skeet, Olympian Mairaj had a perfect second round as well to end the day on 49 hits. At least 15 shooters in the huge 176-strong (including RPOs) field, have shot scores of 50 each.

Young Bhavtegh Gill also finished with a perfect 25 round to follow a 23, while Olympian Anant Jeet Singh Naruka missed one target in each of his two rounds. The second qualification round in the men's skeet was still in progress. PTI