India win bronze in both men's and women's skeet at Asian Games

India's men's and women's skeet teams each secured bronze medals at the Asian Games on Wednesday, providing two podium finishes for the country at the shooting range. The women's result was India's first Asian Games medal in skeet.

The women's trio of Parinaaz Dhaliwal, Raiza Dhillon and Maheshwari Chauhan scored 331 out of 375 to take the bronze, finishing behind China and Kazakhstan. China posted a Games-record 357 to win gold, while Kazakhstan claimed silver with 336. The Indian total was compiled over three rounds of qualification, with each shooter completing five series of 25 shots; Parinaaz and Raiza recorded 111 each and Maheshwari 109.

Raiza Dhillon and Parinaaz Dhaliwal progressed to the individual final, but neither added to India’s medal tally in the event. Raiza, an Olympian, stayed in contention deep into the eight-shooter final before finishing fourth with 23 points, while Parinaaz was the first shooter eliminated, placing eighth. China's Jiang Yiting won the individual gold with 35 points, equalling the world record.

On the men's side, Anantjeet Singh Naruka, Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Bhavtegh Singh Gill combined for 346 to earn the team bronze, following the women's podium finish earlier in the session. Qatar took the men's team gold with 353 and Kuwait finished second with 348.

Anantjeet Singh Naruka had been among the leading contenders in qualification, shooting 96 from 100 across the first two days to sit joint top with three others. A score of 23 in his final qualification round left him with an aggregate of 119, enough to reach the eight-man final where he ultimately finished fourth. Qatar's Rashid Saleh Al-Athba won the individual men's gold with an Asian record of 34, China's Lyu Jianlin took silver with 33 and Chinese Taipei's Lee Meng-Yuan claimed bronze with 29.

Both team bronze medals were India’s shooting achievements on Wednesday, with no Indian athlete reaching the podium in the individual skeet finals.