After near miss in Paris Olympics, Anantjeet Singh Naruka’s redemption arc has begun and he is determined to keep it going

India’s painful tryst with fourth-place finishes at the Olympics had six new additions at the 2024 Paris Games. Among them was the skeet mixed team pair of Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Maheshwari Chauhan, who lost 43-44 to China’s Jiang Yiting and Lyu Jianlin in the bronze medal match.

More than a year later, the sting of that near miss has not faded. “For a non-athlete, it might be a big thing to finish fourth at the Olympics. But as an athlete, we know we need to end up on the podium, and we can push ourselves.

My family had mixed emotions. My sisters and everyone were watching the match and praying. After it finished, they were crying. Of course, we (he and Chauhan) were crying as well. We didn’t want to have a conversation with anyone at that time. We just wanted to be in our own rooms,” says Naruka, an Asian Games silver medallist.

“It’s going to go on for many years. Till I am alive, I will remember I lost a chance at the Olympic Games. Until I don’t get an (Olympic) medal, it’s going to be the same.”

Yet Naruka has shown that he is ready for redemption. Just two months after Paris, he clinched bronze in the individual skeet at the ISSF World Cup Final in front of a home crowd in New Delhi. At the Asian Championships in Shymkent last month, he went a step further, winning gold in a field of 46 shooters that included three-time World Champion Abdullah Al-Rashidi. Naruka edged another Kuwaiti, Mansour Al-Rashidi, 57-56 in the final, sealing India’s first of 14 gold medals in Kazakhstan.

“The conditions at the range were very windy. It was the most difficult competition that I’ve played. Luckily, I was shooting well, and all the hard work was there. So, I performed at that time,” says the 27-year-old from Jaipur.

As he sealed gold, Naruka was embraced by Riccardo Filippelli, the 45-year-old Italian who took charge of India’s skeet shooters earlier this year. Training under Filippelli, a World Championships bronze medallist himself, is already paying dividends.

“Me and my teammates went to train with him in Italy. His range is in Arezzo, Tuscany, which is in central Italy. And just before the Asian Championships, we had a training camp in Delhi, which was good,” says Naruka.

“There was a lot of communication about how to prepare for the competition and when you have to peak. We also did some technical changes, and it worked well. More conversations about the experiences he has had and what I had faced at the Olympics—how to restart because we have five rounds. After every round you finish, you have a gap, and then again, you have to start your preparation.”

The Olympic cycle truly begins in 2026, with quota places on offer. Naruka knows every aspect — equipment, technique, mentality —needs refinement. “When you gain weight, your mount for the gun changes. So, we have to keep the stock in a perfect way. If I gain more muscle, then I have to fix it the next time,” he explains.

“In my event, a lot of endurance is required. If your body is fit, then you will be mentally fit as well. Every month, we are shooting, and it’s not easy to perform in every competition, but I have seen this change in myself after the COVID-19 pandemic. I started working out, put on 10-15kgs of muscle, and my performance started getting better. When you are working out, you feel fresh and of course, you see some positive changes in your body also which helps in shooting because we are standing under the sun since the morning. It’s about how well you can keep your body hydrated and the muscles working well.”

Shooting League of India

In November, Naruka will compete in the inaugural Shooting League of India (SLI), a franchise-style competition he believes can raise the profile of shotgun shooting.

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“It’s more interesting and catchier than a rifle or pistol. It’s all about reflexes. We are shooting the first target in 0.6-0.7 seconds before aiming at the second target. You will see the recoil and the pellets going in slow motion. It’s going to be very interesting for the audience,” he says.

Some of his friends from Italy and Egypt are expected to take part, but Naruka hopes the marquee name will be Vincent Hancock, the four-time Olympic champion from the U.S.

“Everyone wants Vincent Hancock to come because, of course, he is a legend in shooting. I’ll say in shooting, not just shotgun shooting,” Naruka signs off.

Published on Sep 11, 2025