Anantjeet Naruka ends skeet gold drought

Anantjeet Naruka fought strong wind and two former champions to bring home men’s skeet gold at the 16th Asian Championships in Shymkent, Kazakhstan. Anant, who had participated at the Paris Games and missed the skeet mixed medal after finishing 4th with Maheshwari Chauhan, shot 57 in the final to beat last edition’s champion, Mansour Alrashidi of Kuwait (56).

Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!

Qatar’s Ali Ahmed Al-Ihaq won bronze with 43 on board. Anand had qualified after scoring 119 in the qualification. Among other Indians, Bhavtegh Singh was 28th and Abhay Singh Shekhon was 31st. The Rajasthan shooter said it was a good medal for him to win as it came despite tough weather. “The wind was rough today, I know it was the same for everyone else, but winning a gold here was special,” Anant told TOI. Shotgun has been a shooting discipline dominated by the middle-east shooters at the Asian level, however, the Chinese and South Koreans are also coming up. “Many countries in Asia are doing well along with us, so it is getting tougher,” Anant said. Suruchi Phogat and Saurabh Chaudhary took bronze in the 10m air pistol mixed team event.