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What’s the story?
Indian skeet shooter Maheshwari Chauhan scripted history by becoming the first Indian to win an individual medal in women’s skeet at an international event.
The 21-year-old secured the bronze on Day 5 at the ongoing 7th Asian Championship Shotgun in Astana, Kazakhstan to take India’s medal tally to a total of 6 in the championship. India’s tally now stands at two gold, one silver, and three bronze medals.
The young shooter also led her country to the team silver alongside compatriots Rashmmi Rathore and Saniya Sheikh. The triad of Indian eves shot a total of 190, narrowly losing out to gold medallists China, who shot 195. Hosts Kazakhstan secured the bronze with a score of 185.
In case you did not know...
Trained under national coach, Vikram Singh Chopra, the right-handed shooter Chauhan added to India's existing tally of 4.
Indian shooters have earlier bagged four medals courtesy Ankur Mittals’s double gold in the men’s double trap and Kynan Chenai’s double bronze effort in the trap shooting events.
The heart of the matter
The highlight of the day was undoubtedly Maheshwari’s impeccable performance when she shot 68 out of 75 to finish on top of the qualification pile of 22 shooters.
Leading the group of six shooters into the final round, Maheshwari faced tough contention. It was a quality top six in the finals with the likes of Olympic finalists and World Cup Gold medallists Meng Wei of China and Sutiya Jiewchaloemmit of Thailand among others. Meng is currently ranked fourth in the world, while Jiewchaloemmit is ranked fifth.
The other Indian in the fray was Rashmmi Rathore, who qualified for the sixth spot with a score of 64.
Young Maheshwari eventually finished at the third place with a score of 40 only to be eclipsed by China's Meng, who won the gold shooting 55. Thai shooter Sutiya Jiewchaloemmit took the silver. Rashmmi also put up a spirited performance but finished fourth with a score of 32.
What’s next
The competition concludes with the men's Skeet and the mixed team Skeet events over the weekend.
Author’s take
Winning the bronze at the Asian Championship is just the start of better things to come. Maheshwari’s victory established the fact that the youngster has a long way to go. Exciting times are surely ahead for the Indian skeet shooter.
