Skeet shooter Anant Jeet Singh Naruka was the best Indian on show, returning a score of 72 after three rounds of qualifying at the ISSF World Cup in Baku, which placed him 20th in the standings on Wednesday. (More Sports News)
The other two Indians in the men's category, Sheeraz Sheikh and Mairaj Ahmad Khan, a veteran shooter with more than 25 years of෴ experience, shot poor scores of 67 and 63 respectively to be placed way down the pecking order.
Sheeraj was 67th, while th💃e 48-year-old Mairaj w♐as a dismal 76th among 80 shooters in the fray after Day 1.
India's Kuldeep Sanyashi, who is competing for Ran♉king Points Only꧙ (RPO), fared much better than the two veterans, scoring 71 in three rounds of 25 each.
Paris Olympics quota winner Naruka overcame an opening round 22 to return with two perfect rounds꧒ of 25 eacꦫh to finish just three off the leader and will hope to make it to the top-six on Thursday.
In women's skeet, all three Indians finished with identical scores of 69 to be in 13th, 15th and 19th spots respectively. Raiza Dhillon shot 22, 22, 25 to be 13th, while Mahes🌊hwari Chauhan (22, 23, 24) was 15th and Ganemat Sekhon (25, 22, 22) was placed 19th.
Georgia's Elizaveta Boiars💙hinova leads the field with a 73 on the opening 𝄹day and nothing less than two perfect rounds will get the Indians into the top six.
The three women sheet shooters are also in an intense battle to earn crucial ranking points ahead of the Olympics cutoff date, toꦡ not only grab one of two available spots in the event, but also to ensure an addiไtional start as mixed team skeet makes its Olympics debut.
