ISSF Shotgun World Cup: Mairaj Ahmad Khan, Maheshwari Chauhan in focus as Indian skeet squad eyes glory

The Indian skeet shooting squad has arrived in Cyprus for the year’s third ISSF World Cup for shotgun beginning here from Saturday, hoping to continue the impressive runs of Peru and Argentina.

The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) had named a 12-member squad for the Nicosia World Cup in February, for both skeet and trap.

The skeet competitions, beginning from next Monday, include two Olympians—Mairaj Ahmad Khan in men’s skeet and Maheshwari Chauhan in women’s skeet—who will lead an otherwise young and inexperienced side.

Over 350 athletes from as many as 54 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) have entered the competition, including some of the top names in shotgun shooting.

The qualifying round for the skeet competitions begins on Monday, with two rounds of 25 clay targets each, which will be repeated on Tuesday, before the fifth and final round and the finals are played out on Wednesday.

India’s hopes in men’s skeet will rest on the shoulders of Abhay Singh Sekhon, who will be making his senior World Cup debut, and Rituraj Singh Bundela, who has played four World Cups in the past two years, besides Mairaj.

In the women’s competition, Maheshwari will also be looking to secure a first senior World Cup medal alongside Parinaaz Dhaliwal, who is four World Cups old. The third Indian in women’s skeet, the 18-year-old Yashasvi Rathore, will be making her debut.

Many former and reigning world and Olympic champions will be lining up for international glory, including strong teams from powerhouses Italy and the USA.

Meanwhile in Delhi on Thursday, the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions (3P) final was won by the Railways’ Akhil Sheoran, a reigning world championship bronze medallist. He shot 462.5 to win the final even as West Bengal’s Adriyan Karmakar picked up the junior men’s 3P title at the Kumar Surendra Singh Memorial Shooting Championship.

Riya Shirish Thatte of Maharashtra was among the other stars of the first day of finals on Thursday, finishing second behind Divya, with 28 hits in the senior final, while also finishing fourth in the junior final.

Like Riya in Bhopal, Rohit Kanyan of Haryana was the star in Delhi, taking silver in the men’s 3P, while also reaching the junior final to finish sixth.

Paris Olympic bronze medallist Swapnil Kusale had a mixed day, winning gold for Railways in the men’s 3P team event, while also equalling his own championship qualification record of 589, to top the qualifications. He then finished fifth in the men’s 3P final.