The Indian women’s skeet shooting team, comprising Raiza Dhillon, Maheshwari Chauhan and Parinaaz Dhaliwaal, concluded the first day of the women’s skeet team competition at the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on Monday in third position, placing them in contention for the bronze medal.
After two rounds, India holds third place with a total score of 132. China leads with 143 points, followed by Kazakhstan. Individually, Raiza Dhillon is in ninth place with 46 points after two rounds; Parinaaz Dhaliwaal and Maheshwari Chauhan are in 14th and 16th positions respectively, with scores of 44 and 42. All three aim to qualify for the individual final.
In the men’s skeet competition, the Indian team of Anant Jeet Naruka, Mairaj Khan and Bhav Tegh Singh Gill occupies sixth place after day one, with two days of competition remaining. They scored 136 points, trailing Qatar (145 points), Chinese Taipei and Kazakhstan (143 points), Kuwait (140 points), and South Korea (138 points). Individually, Naruka is 21st with 47 points, Mairaj 26th with 45 points, and Bhav Tegh Singh Gill 27th with 44 points, all seeking to improve their rankings in the upcoming rounds.
Earlier on Monday, Indian shooters Himanshu Dhillon and Rudrankksh Patil won silver and bronze medals respectively in the men’s 10m air rifle individual event. China’s Sheng Lihao secured the gold medal following a closely contested final.
Rudrankksh Patil started the final strongly, leading after the opening series with a score of 52.8 and extending his advantage to 1.1 points after a 53.2 in the second series. Himanshu Dhillon remained competitive, briefly moving into second place during the event. After 12 shots, Rudrankksh led with 127.4 points, Himanshu had 126.6, and Sheng had 126.3.
The competition remained tight through the middle stages. After 16 shots, Sheng took the lead with 168.8 points, while Rudrankksh and Himanshu were tied at 168.6. Himanshu produced a 10.9 to move within 0.1 of Rudrankksh, but a 9.8 shot dropped him to third, although he remained in medal contention with a 10.6.
Sheng extended his lead to one point after 20 shots. Rudrankksh was second on 210.6 and Himanshu third on 210.0. The final phase saw dramatic shifts as Rudrankksh was eliminated after 22 shots with a total of 230.9, just 0.1 points behind Himanshu, who posted 231.0. A 9.7 shot cost Rudrankksh the silver, resulting in a bronze medal.
The gold medal contest between Sheng and Himanshu concluded with both shooting 10.6 on their final attempts. Sheng finished with 233.0 points to claim the gold, while Himanshu took the silver with 231.0 points. This result marked a silver and bronze double for India in the men’s 10m air rifle individual event.
The Indian team continued its success on day two as Rudrankksh Patil, Parth Mané and Himanshu Dhillon earned a silver medal in the men’s 10m air rifle team event. India scored 1890.1, trailing China, who won gold with 1899.0 points. South Korea took bronze with 1841.4 points. This medal is India’s third at the Asian Games 2026, all in shooting, and all silver.
During the men’s 10m air rifle qualifying round, which also served as the team final, Rudrankksh Patil finished third and Himanshu Dhillon seventh, securing their places in the individual final. Parth Mané finished 11th but did not qualify for the individual final. Rudrankksh and Himanshu have thus advanced to compete for individual medals.