Naruka bags silver in men's skeet

HANGZHOU: India's Anant Jeet Singh Naruka claimed the silver medal in men's skeet event at the Asian Games here on Wednesday, adding to the team bronze he won alongside Angad Vir Singh Bajwa and Gurjoat Khangura.

Naruka performed well and looked on course to win the gold, having not missed a shot until the business end of the final.

Naruka finished his last round with 10/10 to finish his event with an impressive 58/60.

But it was still not good enough for gold as Kuwait's Abdullah Alrashidi equalled the world record with a perfect 60/60 to finish on top of the podium.

Nasser Al-Attiya of Qatar bagged the bronze with 46.

''It was a good competition. The gold winner is a very experienced shooter. He is a two-time Olympic bronze medal winner. But I was not thinking about him but focusing on my performance,'' said Naruka.

''I lost my rhythm a bit in the middle. Later, I recovered. This is also my first Asian Games medal," he added. He said the day's performance was his best.

''You need to imagine what your targets would be. I tried to break the targets in my head. I have to make a vision of how I have to break them.

''But it all depends on the particular day. Everyone performing at the highest level would tell you, on the day if you are shooting well and your rhythm is going on, anyone can win. It is just about the rhythm and experience counts," he added. He said the humidity at the Fuyang Yinhu Sports Centre Range was energy-sapping.

''Throughout the day, you are mentally exhausted but you need to keep going," Naruka added. Earlier in the day, the trio of Naruka, Bajwa and Khangura shot a total of 355 to win the team bronze.

Hosts China won the gold medal while Qatar claimed the silver.

The Indian women's team, however, crashed out of the shotgun skeet event by finishing in the fourth position behind Kazakhstan, China and Thailand.