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Raiza Dhillon and Anant Jeet Singh Naruka added two more Paris Olympics quotas for India in shooting, bringing the total to 19. They achieved this by winning silver medals in their respective skeet events at the Asia Olympic Qualification for Shotgun on Saturday.
Dhillon claimed the country's 18th quota by securing silver in the women's skeet. Subsequently, Naruka earned a silver in the men's skeet final with a score of 56, narrowly missing the gold by just one point to Taipei's Meng Yuan Lee, who scored 57. Mohammad Aldaihani took bronze and the second men's quota by scoring 47.
At 19 years old, Dhillon showed impressive form, leading the six-woman final until the halfway point. However, she then missed two to three targets, allowing China's Jinmei Gao to take the lead and eventually win the gold by hitting 56 targets in the 60-shot final.
Dhillon finished with 52 hits, securing second place and a Paris Games quota for India. Gao also earned a quota for her country with her victory. Maheshwari Chauhan, another Indian competitor, won bronze with 43 hits, while Ganemat Sekhon, also from India and participating in the final, finished fourth with 30 hits.
Initially, Dhillon led the competition, flawlessly hitting all six of her targets. She continued her lead with 14 successful hits, staying two ahead of Gao. However, the final became increasingly tense as Dhillon missed two targets, allowing Gao to take the lead for the first time.
Dhillon's struggles continued as she missed again, and Gao maintained her lead. This left Dhillon and Chauhan, both from India, competing for the silver. Dhillon ultimately won this contest, securing her spot in the gold medal fight, while Chauhan settled for bronze. In the gold medal round, Dhillon missed twice early on, allowing Gao to build a three-point lead and eventually win the event.
In the qualifications, Sekhon ranked second with a score of 117, Chauhan third with 115 after winning a shoot-off against Qatar's Al Sharshani Reem, and Dhillon entered the final in sixth place, completing the top six lineup. Naruka qualified second in the men's event with a score of 121, just behind China's Ma Chenglong (122) and ahead of Taipei's Meng Yuan Lee (121).
In the men's skeet qualifications, other Indian shooters Munek Battule and Gurjoat Khangura finished 18th and 21st, respectively.
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