New Delhi, Dec 17 (IANS) Rajasthan’s team of Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Darshna Rathore delivered a steady performance to secure a gold medal in the Senior Skeet Mixed Team event at the 68th National Shooting Championship here at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range on Tuesday. They narrowly defeated Uttar Pradesh 45–43 in a tense gold medal showdown.

Asian Champion Anantjeet and Darshna worked well together, with Anantjeet scoring 21 targets and Darshna 24, to beat the Uttar Pradesh team of Olympian Mairaj Ahmad Khan (21) and Areeba Khan (22) in the gold medal match. Earlier, Rajasthan led the qualification with 143 hits, with Anantjeet scoring 73 and Darshna 70, earning a direct place in the final.

Uttar Pradesh secured their spot in the final by narrowly defeating Haryana in a shootout during qualification. Mairaj (74) and Areeba (68) combined for a score of 142, tying with Haryana, and ultimately winning 4–3 in the shootout.

Haryana’s team, comprising Raiza Dhillon (72) with 21 hits and Ishaan Singh Libra (70) with 20 hits, went on to win the bronze medal after defeating Madhya Pradesh 41–39 in the third-place match. The Madhya Pradesh players, Rituraj Bundela (20) and Mansi Raghuwanshi (19), finished in fourth place.

In the Junior Skeet Mixed Team event, the Telangana duo of Yuvek Battula and Lakku Venkat Lakshmi each scored 19 hits to win the title. Madhya Pradesh put up a tough fight, with Jyotiraditya Sisodiya hitting 17 and Vanshika Tiwari scoring 20, but they narrowly missed victory by one point in a tight final.

Punjab secured the junior bronze medal, with Harmehar Singh Lally and Parmeet Kaur achieving third place by scoring 40 hits. They edged out the Rajasthan team of Yashasvi Rathore and Yashwardhan S Rajawat, who finished with 39 hits.

Earlier in the junior qualification, Telangana led the standings with 141 targets, scored by Yuvek (73) and Venkat Lakshmi (66), securing their place in the gold medal match. Madhya Pradesh finished second with 140 hits, achieved by Vanshika (71) and Jyotiraditya (69). Punjab came in third with a total of 136 hits, with Harmehar scoring 73 and Parmeet Kaur 63. Rajasthan finished fourth with 133 hits, thanks to Yashasvi (70) and Yashwardhan (63).

The 68th Nationals' action proceeds with the 10m Air Pistol Women’s finals set for Thursday at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range here in New Delhi.

--IANS

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