Bhavtegh gets into contention alongside Mairaj, Ganemat, in Lonato

Khel Today Bureau

New Delhi: Bhavtegh Singh Gill, fired two perfect rounds of 25 each, to bring himself into finals contention alongside senior pro Mairaj Ahmad Khan, both finishing with identical scores of 98, after four qualifying rounds of the men’s skeet competition, at the on-going International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Shotgun, in Lonato, Italy.

Ganemat Sekhon in the women’s skeet, also remained in strong contention with rounds of 24 each, giving her a tally of 96 and eighth spot provisionally.

Ganemat began her qualifying rounds at the Trap Concaverde on Monday, in 10th spot overnight. She missed one target each in the two rounds scheduled, to rise up to eighth at the end of day two.

However, she is tied on the same score with a group of six contenders, including Sweden’s Victoria Larsson, who is holding the sixth and final qualifying spot at the moment.

Two other Indians in the fray, Olympians Maheshwari Chauhan and Raiza Dhillon, shot rounds of 22, 25 and 24, 24 to end in 27th and 28th spots with tallies of 96 and 93 respectively. USA’s Dania Jo Vizzi leads the field with a score of 98.

In men’s skeet, Bhavtegh was flawless to register three 25-rounds out of four so far and grab 12th spot provisionally. Olympian Mairaj (24, 25, 24, 25) produced a carbon-copy effort from day one to take 15thposition in the field of 176.

Four men have fired perfect 100s till now and six have missed just one target so far. Bhavtegh and Mairaj find themselves in a pack of 16 with a tally of 98 and the fight for the top six on Tuesday is sure to be intense.

Paris Olympian Anant Jeet Singh Naruka (24, 24, 24, 23) looked out of contention at this stage with a tally of 95.

The final qualifying round will play out on Tuesday (July 08, 2025), ahead of the both the women’s and men’s final.