India's skeet shooters fail to reach individual medal rounds, finish off team podium in Doha

India's men's and women's skeet shooters failed to reach the individual medal rounds and finished outside the team podium at the ISSF World Championships in Doha on Friday, November 6, 2026. Their chances of securing an Olympic quota for the 2028 Los Angeles Games ended without success.

A day earlier Jaypal Malviya had won a silver medal in the men's 10m air pistol, securing an Olympic quota for India and providing a positive result after a difficult run of performances. Despite that success in pistol, the skeet contingent was unable to produce comparable results in Doha.

Leading the men's skeet team was 51-year-old Olympian Mairaj Ahmad Khan, who, described as having more than three decades' experience, scored 118 out of 125 across five rounds of 25 shots each and finished 46th in a field of 113 shooters.

Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Bhavtegh Singh Gill each shot 119, placing 25th and 24th respectively; Anantjeet Singh Naruka had earlier won a medal at this year’s Asian Games in Japan. The Indian men's team totalled 356 and placed sixth in the team standings.

In the women's skeet competition Ganemat Sekhon was the top Indian finisher with 118, which placed her 13th, while Parinaaz Dhaliwal scored 115 for 23rd and Raiza Dhillon managed 114 for 32nd. The three combined for a team aggregate of 347, finishing fifth in the women's team event.

Later on Friday the 10m air pistol mixed team event was scheduled, with India entering two pairings: Suruchi Inder Singh with Jaypal Malviya, and Sainyam with Ravinder Kumar. The mixed team event does not offer Olympic quota places, which are awarded only through individual competitions.

Because Olympic quotas at Doha were available only via individual events, the skeet shooters’ failure to reach the individual medal rounds meant they did not secure quota places from the World Championships.