Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Darshna Rathore Win Mixed Team Skeet Gold at National Shooting Championships

New Delhi - Rajasthan’s pair of Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Darshna Rathore clinched the gold medal in the Senior Skeet Mixed Team event at the 68th National Shooting Championship, held at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range here on Tuesday. The duo edged past Uttar Pradesh in a closely contested final, winning 45–43.

Asian Champion Anantjeet and Darshna displayed strong coordination in the gold medal match, with Anantjeet hitting 21 targets and Darshna contributing 24. They overcame the Uttar Pradesh team of Olympian Mairaj Ahmad Khan, who scored 21, and Areeba Khan, who added 22.

Earlier, the Rajasthan team topped the qualification round with a total of 143 hits, comprising 73 by Anantjeet and 70 by Darshna, which earned them a direct entry into the final. Uttar Pradesh secured their place in the gold medal match after a tense shoot-off against Haryana. Both teams were tied at 142 in qualification, with Mairaj (74) and Areeba (68) eventually prevailing 4–3 in the shoot-out.

Haryana went on to win the bronze medal, with Raiza Dhillon and Ishaan Singh Libra defeating Madhya Pradesh 41–39 in the third-place match. Raiza scored 21 hits while Ishaan added 20. Madhya Pradesh’s Rituraj Bundela and Mansi Raghuwanshi finished fourth with scores of 20 and 19 respectively.

In the Junior Skeet Mixed Team event, Telangana’s Yuvek Battula and Lakku Venkat Lakshmi emerged champions, with both shooters registering 19 hits in the final. Madhya Pradesh narrowly missed out on gold, as Jyotiraditya Sisodiya scored 17 and Vanshika Tiwari hit 20, finishing just one point behind.

Punjab claimed the junior bronze medal, with Harmehar Singh Lally and Parmeet Kaur combining for 40 hits to edge past Rajasthan’s Yashasvi Rathore and Yashwardhan S Rajawat, who finished with 39.

In the junior qualification round, Telangana topped the standings with 141 hits, followed by Madhya Pradesh on 140. Punjab finished third with 136 hits, while Rajasthan placed fourth with 133.

The 68th National Shooting Championship will continue with the 10m Air Pistol Women’s finals scheduled for Thursday at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range in New Delhi.
 

With inputs from IANS