Skeet titles for Anantjeet and Ganemat in National Shooting

Anantjeet Singh Naruka of Rajasthan and Ganemat Sekhon from Punjab claimed men and women’s skeet titles at the 66th National Shooting Championship Competitions (NSCC) for shotgun events at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Ranges here in Delhi on Wednesday.

Naruka topped the qualification with 123 out of 125, and then dominated the 60 shots medal round. In the six-shooter final, he registered 58 out of 60 points.

Munek Battula won silver with a score of 55, while Bhavtegh Singh Gill took home bronze with 45.

“The national title will give a big boost to my confidence,” said the 25-year-old shotgun shooter from Jaipur.

“When you are crowned national champion with a dominant performance, it is an advantage since I am gearing up to earn Paris Olympic quota place in January,” Naruka told Patriot after being crowned the national champion.

“This is Naruka’s second senior national title. He won the national title as a 17-year-old back in 2015. The Asian Games silver-medallist narrowly missed the Olympic quota place at the Asian Shooting Championships in Changwon, Korea in October. It was a bad miss,” Naruka recalled.

“I finished fourth and missed the Olympic quota place by one point.”

But he is hopeful of winning a quota place in January 2024 at the continental competition in Kuwait.

“I am on the right track,” he added.

Five shooters were tied on 119 points in the qualification. Olympian and former national champion Angad Vir Singh Bajwa missed out on the medal round as he finished seventh in the shoot-off. Only top six make the cut for the final.

Gill survived the shoot-off as he finished third and eventually won bronze.

Mairaj Ahmed Khan, a seasoned skeet shooter, too missed the medal round as he finished 21st in the qualification with 114 points.

In women’s skeet, Ganemat faced a challenging task as she was tied with five shooters in the qualification round. All five had an identical score of 116 out of 125. She stayed focussed in the shoot-off to enter the final and then raced ahead of her rivals to win gold. She shot 56 in the final.

Zahra Deesawala was second with 55 points, while Sanjana Sood was third with 44.

Earlier this year, Ganemat won two medals including a gold and silver at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cups while Anantjeet won silver in men’s skeet at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.