Shotgun Olympic qualification: Maheshwari Chauhan breaks women's skeet NR, reaches final

Maheshwari Chauhan reached the final of the women's skeet event, finishing fourth in the qualification round at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Final Olympic Qualification Championship - Shotgun - in Doha on Sunday.

She also set a new national record as she shot 121 to finish fourth in the qualification round behind Victoria Larsson of Switzerland, Assem Orynbay of Kazakhstan and Francisca Crovetto Chadid of Chile. Only the top six shooters were eligible to secure a place each in the quota round. 

Maheshwari's score of 121 broke the previous national record set by Ganemat Sekhon, who equalled her national record of 120 thrice in 2023, the last time being in November 2023.

She will fight for a medal and the Paris Olympics berth later in the evening.

There are two quota places up for grabs in the event.

Ganemat and Areeba Khan finished 24th and 47th in the qualifying round, failing to secure their places in the final.

In the men's skeet qualifying round, Sheeraz Sheikh was the best-performing Indian shooter as he finished 54th and missed out on a chance to secure a berth in the final, while Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Angad Bajwa finished at 68th and 74th places.

India so far have won two Paris Olympics quota places in skeet, one each in the men’s and women’s events. Including the two in Skeet, India has won a total of 20 quota places for the upcoming Paris Olympics.