Raiza Dhillon secures India’s 18th Olympic quota with silver in Kuwait City | More sports News

NEW DELHI: Teenager Raiza Dhillon and Anant Jeet Singh Naruka on Saturday secured two more Paris Games quotas for India after winning silver medals in their respective skeet events at the Asia Olympic Qualification for Shotgun in Kuwait City.
With the silver medals, the duo stretched the quota tally to 19.
Dhillon dominated the six-women final, leading until the midway point.However, the 19-year-old suffered a slight setback and missed two-three targets, allowing China’s Jinmei Gao to seize the lead.
Gao eventually secured the gold medal with an impressive score of 56 targets out of 60 in the final while Dhillon finished in second place with a commendable 52 hits.
Naruka finished second on the podium in the men’s skeet final with a total of 56, missing the gold by one point to Taipei’s Meng Yuan Lee (57).
Mohammad Aldaihani won the bronze and the second quota on offer in the men’s final by shooting 47.
Both Gao and Dhillon secured a Paris Games quota each for their respective country.
Dhillon’s compatriot Maheshwari Chauhan settled for the bronze with 43, while Ganemat Sekhon, the other Indian shooter in the final, ended in fourth position with 30.
To begin with, Dhillon was on top of the table with six out of six targets. The Indian continued to lead the final with 14 hits, remaining two ahead of Gao.
However, in what was turning out to be an engrossing final, Dhillon then missed two targets as Gao went in lead for the first time in the competition.
Dhillon missed again in the next outing as the Chinese maintained her lead to leave the two Indians — Dhillon and Chauhan — to fight for the silver medal. Dhillon prevailed to enter the fight for the gold medal, as Chauhan left her station with bronze.
Dhillon missed twice at the start of gold medal contest, as Gao led by three points to seal the issue in her favour.
Earlier, Sekhon was second in the qualification with a total score of 117, Chauhan was placed third with 115 after prevailing in shoot-off with Qatar’s Al Sharshani Reem, while Dhillon qualified for the final in sixth place, completing the top six lineup.
Naruka was second in the qualification with a total of 121, finishing behind China’s Ma Chenglong (122) and ahead of Taipei’s Meng Yuan Lee (121).
Other Indian shooters in the men’s skeet, Munek Battule and Gurjoat Khangura finished 18th and 21st in the qualification.
(With inputs from PTI)

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