Olympics 2024: Who are Maheshwari Chauhan and Anantjeet Singh Naruka?

Indian mixed shooting team of Maheshwari Chauhan and Anantjeet Singh Naruka created history by becoming the first-ever Indian shooters to reach the final in skeet events at the Olympics.

The duo finished fourth in the qualification for the Mixed Skeet team shooting and scoring 146. They lost the third spot in the shoot-off to the Chinese team of Jialin Lyu and Yiting Jiang.

They will play the Chinese pair in the bronze medal match and have a shot at history today

Let's get to know who are the Indian shooters on the cusp of history.

Who is Indian Shooter Maheshwari Chauhan? 

Born in Rajasthan, Maheshwari Chauhan comes from a family of shooters. She picked up the shotgun from her grandfather's vast collection when she was a kid.

Her shooting started when she practiced shooting with her father, Pradeep Singh, her brother, Daksheshwar Singh, and her grandfather, Ganpat Singh, at their family’s private range in Siana.

At the 7th Asian Championship Shotgun in Astana, Kazakhstan, Chauhan, secured the bronze medal on event.

Earlier in the year, she won silver in the women’s Skeet competition on the concluding day of the Final Olympic qualification tournament and clinched the 21st shooting quota for the country making it the highest-ever shooting quota at the Olympics.

Who is Anantjeet Singh Naruka?

One of the consistent skeet shooters in the country, Anantjeet Singh Naruka is also from Rajasthan.

Coached by his father who was also a skeet shooter, Anantjeet created history at the Asian Games 2023 when he won a historic silver in the men's skeet event.

It was India's first-ever medal in the skeet event at the Asian Games. He shot a staggering 58 out of 60 shots to clinch that medal.

At the 2023 Asian Games, he competed in two events and won a medal in both with a bronze in the team event.