- KR Bharat
- 2025-12-18
Rajasthan’s pairing of Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Darshna Rathore delivered a composed and consistent performance to clinch the senior skeet mixed team gold at the 68th National Shooting Championship Competitions (Shotgun), currently underway at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range in Delhi.
The Rajasthan duo edged past Uttar Pradesh 45–43 in a closely fought gold medal match on Wednesday to seal the title. Asian champion Anantjeet hit 21 targets, while Darshna contributed 24, holding off the Uttar Pradesh pair of Olympian Mairaj Ahmad Khan (21) and Areeba Khan (22).
Earlier in the day, Rajasthan topped the qualification round with a total of 143 hits, with Anantjeet shooting 73 and Darshna adding 70, earning them a direct berth in the gold medal match.
Uttar Pradesh secured their place in the final after edging out Haryana in a shootout during qualification. Both teams were tied at 142 hits before UP prevailed 4–3 in the shootout. The UP combination of Mairaj (74) and Areeba (68) showed strong form throughout the competition.
Haryana went on to claim the bronze medal, with Raiza Dhillon (21) and Ishaan Singh Libra (20) defeating the Madhya Pradesh duo of Rituraj Bundela (20) and Mansi Raghuwanshi (19) by 41–39 in the third-place match.
In the Junior Skeet Mixed Team event, the Telangana pairing of Yuvek Battula and Lakku Venkat Lakshmi emerged champions after contributing 19 hits each in the final. Madhya Pradesh finished runners-up, with Jyotiraditya Sisodiya hitting 17 and Vanshika Tiwari adding 20 in a tightly contested match decided by a single point.
Punjab secured the junior bronze medal as Harmehar Singh Lally and Parmeet Kaur combined for 40 hits to edge past Rajasthan’s Yashasvi Rathore and Yashwardhan S Rajawat, who finished with 39 hits.
Earlier in junior qualification, Telangana topped the standings with 141 hits through Yuvek (73) and Venkat Lakshmi (66), followed by Madhya Pradesh with 140 hits. Punjab and Rajasthan finished third and fourth with totals of 136 and 133 hits respectively.
