New Delhi: Olympian Maheshwari Chauhan fired a 69 on the first day of the qualification round at the Tangier Shooting Club in Morocco, keeping her within range of a berth in the final of the women’s skeet competition in the year’s first International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Shotgun World Cup in Tangier.
Starting early on Friday morning, Maheshwari shot 21 in the first round but came back strong, closing out with a couple of 24s to give her seventh spot on the leaderboard. The top eight go through to the final on Saturday, after two more rounds of qualification are played out.
Teammates Darshna Rathore and Yashasvi Rathore shot scores of 64 each to lie in 25th and 26th spots, respectively, one ahead of reigning Olympic champion Francisca Crovetto Chadid of Chile, who shot the same score. Emmanouela Katzouraki of Greece is leading the 41-strong field presently with 72 hits.
In the men’s skeet, Parampal Singh Guron was the best Indian on show with a tally of 70 (25,22,23). Young Jyotiraditya Singh Sisodia shot 67 (23,22,22) while Man Singh ended the day with 64 (21,21,22). All three men have their work cut out for them on Saturday to make the top eight.
A highly competitive field consisting of Olympic and World Champions has entered the competition. India has entered the maximum quota of six athletes in both men and women, along with two shooters each in both men and women, who will be competing for ranking points.
The women’s field is packed with stars like the reigning Olympic champion Francisca Crovetto Chadid of Chile, who is returning to international competition after maternity leave, headlining the women’s competition along with reigning world champion Samantha Simonton of the United States. Diana Bacosi of Italy, a double Olympic and double world champion, also starts, while former world champion Dania Jo Vizzi of the USA, Kazakhstan’s world championship medallist Assem Orynbay, among others, make it a highly competitive field.
In the men’s event, an 82-strong field has entered the competition with World Championship 2025 bronze medallist Emil Kjeldgaard Petersen of Denmark headlining the list. Last season’s World Cup finals winner Christian Elliot of the USA, Italy’s double Olympic champion Gabriele Rossetti, Tokyo silver medallist Jesper Hansen, also of Denmark, and former world champion and Asian Games champion Masoud Saleh Al-Athba of Qatar are among the top names in the competition. Also representing Canada for the first time will be Angad Vir Singh Bajwa, who was in India colours till last year.
(IANS)
