New Delhi, May 7 Olympian Maheshwari Chauhan closed with a 25 and Abhay Singh Sekhon with a 23, but both fell just short of the finals of the women’s and men’s skeet competition, at the year’s third International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Shotgun stage in Nicosia, Cyprus on Wednesday.
Maheshwari’s tally of 118 was two below the joint sixth spot, while Abhay’s 121 was even closer as Ireland’s Jack Fairclough took the sixth and final qualifying spot with 122.
Earlier in the day, Maheshwari (22,25,24,25), despite a perfect finishing round, could not make up for the two rounds of 22 on day one, as the shoot-off for the fifth and sixth qualifying spots went at 120 in women’s skeet.
Abhay Sekhon (25,24,24,25,23) had raised hopes ending day two in fifth spot, but two misses in his final round saw him finish down in 16th spot, despite a good overall performance over three days.
Also in the women’s skeet, Parinaaz Dhaliwal (23,24,20,25,24) was 16th with 116 while Yashasvi Rathore (21,23,21,23,24) finished 35th with a total of 112 in her debut world cup.
Olympian Mairaj Ahmad Khan (24,24,24,23,24) was the second best Indian in men’s skeet, his tally of 119 giving him 36th spot while Ritu Raj Bundela’s (23,21,23,23,24) 114 was good enough for 63rd spot among medal contenders.
Arina Kuznetsova of the neutral athletes (AIN) won gold in women’s skeet while former junior world champion Elia Sdruccioli won gold for Italy in the men’s event.
The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) had named a 12-member squad for the Nicosia World Cup back in February itself, including for both disciplines of Skeet and Trap. Skeet competitions. A total of 350-plus athletes from as many as 54 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) have entered the competition, including some of the top names in Shotgun Shooting.
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