Asia Olympic Qualifiers: Ganemat Sekhon among Indians in top six on Day 1 of skeet qualifying event

Kuwait City: With Paris Olympics quota places on line, three Indians ended day one of qualifications of the skeet competition at the Asia Olympic Qualification for shotgun shooters inside top six in Kuwait City on Friday. Ganemat Sekhon shot 71 for her three rounds to place second, while Maheshwari Chauhan shot 70 for third spot in women’s skeet, even as Anant Jeet Singh Naruka (72) ended the day in fourth in the men’s event. There are two Paris quota places available in each of the events and one country can only take one quota place. India are searching for their first Paris quota in skeet. The Indian shooting squad has so far bagged a record 17 quota places. India number one Ganemat, a winner of four World Cup medals in Olympic events, was the most successful from the country on the day after posting rounds of 24, 24 and 23. She was one behind Gao Jinmei of China and one ahead of Maheshwari, who had rounds of 23, 23 and 24, to stay in contention. Raiza Dhillon was only slightly behind at eighth with a score of 67, a point below the top six mark. In men’s skeet, another Indian number one Naruka began with a perfect round of 25, before missing two and one in the next two to end fourth on countback. He was tied with two others including second-placed Samer Sarkis of Lebanon. China were leading the chart, thanks to Ma Chenglong’s 73, which included two perfect rounds. With two more rounds coming up on Saturday followed by the finals, the race to the top six will be the first challenge to overcome for the Indian shooters.