Indian shooters Maheshwari Chauhan and Anant Jeet Singh Naruka narrowly missed out on a historic bronze medal in the skeet mixed team event at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Monday.
The pair scored a total of 146 in the qualifications, setting up a high-stakes match against China’s Yiting Jiang and Jianlin Lyu for a spot on the podium on Day 10 of the Summer Games in Paris.
Chauhan posted scores of 24, 25, and 25 (74), while Naruka had a total of 25, 23, and 24 (72) in the qualification round.
During the bronze-medal match, the Chinese team, Lyu and Jiang, delivered a flawless performance at Station 1, scoring a perfect 4/4.
In contrast, India’s Anant Jeet missed one of the four targets, scoring 3/4, while Chauhan hit all four targets. Trailing China (8/8) after the first station, India (7/8) took the lead in shooting at Station 2.
Anant Jeet again scored 3/4, and Chauhan missed one target. With Jiang missing three targets, both teams were tied at 16 after Station 2.
The competition remained tight after Station 3, with both teams level at 20/24. However, China gained a slight edge in Station 4, leading India by a single point.
Entering Station 5, Anant Jeet and Chauhan made a perfect start, hitting all four targets. India needed to hit all eight targets and hope for misses from China to clinch the bronze medal.
Despite their best efforts, firing all four targets in the final round, China held their nerve with Lyu and Jiang also achieving a perfect 4/4, securing the bronze for China.
India finished the match with a close score of 43/48, just one point behind China’s 44/48, resulting in a fourth-place finish in the skeet mixed team event.
This was the very first time when India had reached a medal match in Skeet Shooting.