Indian shooters continued their disappointing performance at the ISSF World Cup in Baku, with none of the skeet exponents in both men’s and women’s events qualifying for the finals.
In the men’s skeet event, Asian Games silver medalist Anant Jeet Singh Naruka finished 15th with a qualifying score of 120/125. Veteran marksman Mairaj Ahmad Khan, 48, managed only 105 and finished 76th among 80 shooters. Sheeraz Sheikh finished 54th with an aggregate of 115.
In the women’s skeet event, Raiza Dhillon finished 16th with an aggregate of 114/125, while Maheshwari Chauhan was 20th with 113 points. Ganemat Sekhon finished 25th with 111 points.
The Indian trap shooters had also failed to impress earlier in the World Cup, with none of them making it to the finals. Vivaan Kapoor narrowly missed the six-shooter finals, finishing seventh, while Prithvi Tondaiman finished 24th and Bhowneesh Mendiratta finished 39th. Veteran Zoravar Singh Sandhu finished 52nd.
Olympic quota winner Rajeshwari Kumari finished 23rd in trap with a qualification round score of just 108/125, while Shreyasi Singh managed only 107.
The dismal performance of the Indian shooters in Baku is a cause for concern, as it comes just months before the Tokyo Olympics. The shooters will need to improve their form significantly if they want to challenge for medals at the Games.
