Indian skeet shooters Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Parinaaz Dhaliwal secured a historic bronze medal in the mixed team skeet event at the Asian Games 2026 on Thursday at Aichi-Nagoya, overcoming a tense final shaped by gusty winds to complete an unprecedented sweep of all three skeet team podiums for India.
Historic Bronze After a Nerve-Wracking Final at Aichi-Nagoya
The Indian pair fought through a fiercely contested four-team final on Thursday to secure the first-ever medal for the country in the mixed skeet team discipline at the Asian Games. Anantjeet and Parinaaz entered the medal round in fourth place after posting 138 points in qualification, where Anantjeet hit 70 out of 75 targets and Parinaaz hit 68. Qatar led the qualification stage with 145 points, followed by South Korea at 143 and China at 140.
Once the final began, qualification scores were wiped clean. Qatar stumbled early and exited first, guaranteeing India at least a bronze. As intermittent gusts swept across the range, the remaining contenders battled through worsening weather. That performance matched South Korea’s final tally of 44 hits from 48 shots. China claimed the gold medal with 45 hits, while South Korea took silver on the tie-breaker due to its higher qualifying score.
Unprecedented Skeet Sweep and Emotional Significance
Thursday’s bronze medal completed a remarkable three-medal sweep for Indian skeet over just two days. Anantjeet had previously teamed up with Bhavtegh Singh Gill and Mairaj Ahmed Khan to win the men’s team bronze, while Parinaaz, Raiza Dhillon, and Maheshwari Chauhan secured the women’s team bronze.
Anantjeet Singh Naruka stated that this performance ranked the highest, adding that in the Olympics one might finish fourth, but if you are not standing on the podium it does not matter, according to Rediff.
Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya praised the milestone on social media, describing the result as a Historic Bronze for Bharat
in a public post congratulating the athletes. The success provided a welcome lift for the shooting contingent on a day when other disciplines faced steep challenges.
Mixed Fortunes in the Pistol Range and Shuffled Lineups
While the shotgun range delivered history, the pistol hall experienced a difficult outing. The men’s 10m air pistol team drew a blank as none of the three competitors advanced to the final. Kamaljeet finished ninth with 580 points, missing the qualification cutoff by a single point after recovering from a perfect 100 in his third series with rounds of 94 and 93. Aakash Bhardwaj finished 11th with 579 points, and Balakrishna Kedarling Uchaganve placed 35th with 568 points. The trio’s combined score of 1727 left them in fourth place, behind host nation Japan, which secured the bronze with 1730 points.
The pistol squad’s struggles prompted an immediate team adjustment. High Performance Director Pierre Beauchamp noted that the federation finalized a revised roster following performance reviews from training camps and the recent World Cup, placing Kamaljeet alongside Suruchi Phogat for the mixed pistol team event.