Parinaaz-Anantjeet provide bronze relief in shooting

Nagoya: The windy conditions at the Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Gallery picked up speed on Thursday, making the task of spotting and shooting down the red clay birds all the more challenging. But the Indian duo of Parinaaz Dhaliwal and Anantjeet Singh found a way to hold their own, picking up a bronze in the mixed skeet event at the 20th Asian Games.Though the indoor competitors’ troubles at the venue continued for a second consecutive day, the Indian duo ensured the medals from the outdoor range kept the morale of the entire shooting contingent high.Asian Games 2026 |Salman-Satnam take podium despite last-minute change “We missed winning individual medals yesterday, so we wanted to go all guns blazing,” said an elated Parinaaz.“Even in the finals, it came down to the very last target. But we wanted to finish off with grace,” she said, admitting that her approach was more aggressive than it had been during the previous four days of shooting.After entering the four-team final in fourth place with a qualification score of 138, Parinaaz and Anantjeet finished with 44 out of 48 shots. Despite the score being tied with Korea, the eventual silver medallist advanced due to higher qualification total. Qatar were the first to get eliminated, India took third place on the podium as China (52) edged Korea (51) to take gold.“The venue is stunning to shoot on but slightly tricky. The only drawback was the commute to the range. We had to travel two hours one way. So technically four hours each day. That has never happened in any competition before. It did take a toll on us. I mean, last night, I only slept for five hours. And I was a bit panicky in the morning.”This was after the 24-year-old won bronze on Wednesday as part of the women’s skeet team alongside Raiza Dhillon and Maheshwari Chauhan. With their male counterparts also finishing third, India earned three medals from three skeet team events over two days.Pistol shooters misfireThe Indian pistol shooters entered the continental Games with prolific profiles. But for a second consecutive day, after the women failed to make an impact, the men faltered too in the 10m air pistol individual and team events.Kamaljeet (580) finished the qualification round in ninth place, one point short of making the top-eight final. Aakash Bhardwaj was 11th with 579, while Kedarling Uchaganve finished a lowly 35th with a score of 568.The trio’s combined total of 1727 fell just three points short of Japan’s 1730, leaving India narrowly outside the bronze-medal position that could have offered some consolation.

Source: Deccan Herald