Achi news desk-
Indian archers’ dismal run at the ISSF World Cup in Baku continued with none of the skeet highlighters in men’s and women’s events making it to the finals on Thursday.
Asian Games silver medalist Anant Jeet Singh Naruka finished 15th with an aggregate qualifying score of 120/125, while 48-year-old veteran Mairaj Ahmad Khan could only manage 105 and finished his campaign 76th among 80 shooters in the battle.
Olympian Mairaj, who finished 75th out of 84 shooters at the ISSF Final Olympic Qualification Championship (shotgun) in Doha last month, could not improve on his World Cup performance in Baku, managing an identical score of 21 /25 in the two qualifying rounds. on Thursday for a five-round total of 105/125.
The third Indian in the fray, Sheeraz Sheikh aggregated 115 over five qualifying rounds of 25 shots each to finish 54th.
Among the women, Raiza Dhillon came 16th with a total of 114/125, while Maheshwari Chauhan was 20th with 113 points. Another young shooter, Ganemat Sekhon finished 25th with 111 points. She had a forgettable fourth round of 18/25.
Indian trap shooters had earlier in the World Cup failed to cover themselves in glory, and none of them had made it to the finals.
Vivaan Kapoor was unlucky to miss the six-shooter finals, finishing seventh, while Paris 2024 hopeful Prithvi Tondaiman finished 24th (117/125) and Olympic quota winner Bhowneesh Mendiratta (116) finished 39th.
Veteran Zoravar Singh Sandhu, who competed for Ranking Points (RPO) only, was a distant 52nd.
Olympic quota winner Rajeshwari Kumari finished 23rd in trap with a qualifying round score of just 108/125, while another female trap stalwart Shreyasi Singh could only manage 107.
