India’s skeet shooters primed for challenge as ISSF World Championship Shotgun action begins Friday in Athens

Mairaj Ahmad Khan. 

Khel Today Bureau

New Delhi: India’s skeet shooters will take the field at the Malakasa Shooting Range in Athens, Greece, as the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Championship Shotgun 2025 actions begins Friday  with the first two qualifying rounds of the men’s and women’s Skeet competitions.

Anantjeet-Singh-Naruka.

India’s men’s skeet team will be led by Olympians Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Anantjeet Singh Naruka, recently crowned Asian Champion, as well as Bhavtegh Singh Gill, completing the troika. In the women’s section, Raiza Dhillon, Olympian and former Junior World Championship silver medalist, will spearhead the charge alongside Ganemat Sekhon and Parinaaz Dhaliwal.

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Naruka, who has been in fine form following his performance at the Asian Championships in Shymkent, will join a formidable line-up of 121 shooters, headlined by Vincent Hancock of the United States, a four-time Olympic champion and three-time World Champion, widely regarded as one of the greatest skeet shooters in history. Mairaj, India’s most successful international skeet shooter, will look to use his experience to win a third individual ISSF medal.

Paris 2024 Gold medalist Hancock, who also won gold earlier this year in Lonato, will be joined by Paris Olympic silver medalist Conner Prince, along with 2023 World Championship medallists Eetu Kallioinen of Finland (silver) and Azmy Mehelba of Egypt (bronze).

Adding further competition to the men’s field are several world-ranked shooters, including World No.1 Christian Elliott (USA), who won gold in Buenos Aires and silver in Lima; World No.3 Hector Andres Flores Barahona (Chile); World No.4 Jakub Tomecek (Czechia); and World No.6 Daniel Korcak (Czechia), the Lonato bronze medalist.

The line-up also includes World No.8 Henrik Jansson (Sweden), silver medalist at Lonato, and Denmark’s Jesper Hansen, ranked World No.10 and Nicosia silver medalist, ensuring a highly competitive field.

Raiza Dhillon. 

The women’s skeet competition will feature 63 athletes vying for top honours. Raiza Dhillon enters the championship following her back-to-back silver medals at the Junior World Cup in Suhl and New Delhi, along with a strong fifth-place finish at the senior Lima World Cup earlier in the year.

Ganemat Sekhon.

Ganemat Sekhon, also a former Junior World Championship silver medalist, adds valuable depth and experience to the Indian contingent, as she also vies for a third individual ISSF medal.

Leading the global field is World No.1 Samantha Simonton of the USA, who won gold in Lonato and also secured silver in the Lima and Nicosia World Cup stages. She will be joined by her compatriot Dania Jo Vizzi, World No.3 and the Baku World Championship silver medalist, who has had a remarkable season with gold in Buenos Aires, silver in Lonato, and bronze in Lima.

Also in contention are World No.2 Arina Kuznetsova (AIN), the Nicosia gold and Buenos Aires bronze medalist, and Greece’s Emmanouela Katzouraki (World No.6), the Baku World Championship bronze medalist.

Veteran American and legend of the sport Kimberly Rhode (World No.11), a six-time Olympian and three-time Olympic gold medalist, along with China’s Jiang Yiting (World No.7), junior world record holder and Paris 2024 mixed team bronze medalist, completes a highly competitive women’s field.

The Skeet qualification rounds will start at 11:30 am IST (October 10, 2025) with athletes firing 50 targets each on Day 1 and Day 2, followed by 25 targets on October 12. After a total of 125 targets, the top six shooters in both men’s and women’s events will qualify for the finals scheduled for 5:30 pm IST (women’s) and 7:00 pm IST (men’s) on Sunday (October 12, 2025), where the new World Champions will be crowned.

Watch all the finals of ISSF World Championship Shotgun 2025 live on the ISSF YouTube channel.