India Claims Historic First Mixed Skeet Medal in Japan

Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Parinaaz Dhaliwal won India's first-ever mixed team medal in skeet shooting on Thursday at the Aichi Prefectural Shooting Range in Japan, claiming bronze. Two years ago, Naruka narrowly missed a mixed team bronze at the Paris Olympics while partnering Maheshwari Chauhan. The recent success followed a historic women's team bronze won a day earlier by Dhaliwal, Raiza Dhillon, and Chauhan. Neither Naruka nor Dhaliwal had secured an individual medal in Japan, with Naruka finishing fourth and Dhaliwal seventh. Dhaliwal noted that their missed individual medals served as motivation. The pair faced a difficult start in qualification due to tricky target angles, shooting a combined 138 to edge out Egypt for the fourth and final spot behind Qatar, Korea, and China. In the final against tough fields including Paris and Hangzhou medalists, India opened with 21 points and finished level with Korea on 44 points after two rounds. Korea took silver due to a higher qualification ranking, while China won gold. Dhaliwal credited their success to maintaining individual focus rather than worrying about partner shots. She trains with India's foreign coach Riccardo Filippelli and personal coach Anthony Terras, a Beijing Olympics bronze medalist. Filippelli praised their composure, noting that the team is catching up to the stronger Chinese squad.