Indian shooters suffer trio of fourth‑place finishes, miss medals by narrow margins

Three Indian shooters finished fourth in separate events within a five‑hour span at the Asian Games, leaving the nation just outside the podium. In men's skeet, 2022 Asian Games silver‑medallist Anantjeet Singh Naruka, who earned a team bronze with Mairaj Ahmed and Bhavtegh Singh Gill, fell short in the individual final after a shaky start. He qualified with 119, missed two of his first four shots, then posted four perfect series before a miss in the sixth series and ended fourth. In the women’s skeet final, Razia and Parinaaz Dhaliwal entered on 111 qualification points each, but Razia missed two shots in the opening two series and, despite a recovery, also finished fourth, though she secured a team medal alongside Parinaaz and Maheshwari Chauhan. The 10m air pistol, once a stronghold with three medals in the previous Games, turned into a disappointment. Manu Bhaker reached the final with 579 points, while teammates Esha Singh and Suruchi Singh placed 15th (572) and 26th (568) respectively after weak qualification rounds. Their combined team score of 1719 matched Vietnam’s bronze‑winning total, but the Vietnamese shooters recorded two more inner‑10s, costing India the podium. The string of near‑misses highlights a day of heartbreak for the Indian shooting contingent.