Shooting: Anantjeet, Parinaaz clinch second bronze in two days in mixed skeet

Aichi-Nagoya, Sep 24 (UNI) India's shooting pair of Anantjeet Singh Naruka and Parinaaz Dhaliwal continued their medal-winning run, clinching bronze in the mixed skeet team event at the Asian Games here on Thursday.

The Indian duo finished with 44 hits in the final and were tied with the Republic of Korea. However, they lost the tie-break and had to settle for bronze, while China took gold and Korea silver. The medal marked the second podium finish of the Games for both Anantjeet and Parinaaz, underlining their consistency in the skeet events.

Anantjeet had earlier helped India win bronze in the men's skeet team event, while Parinaaz was part of the Indian women's skeet team that also secured bronze. The pair had earlier fought their way into the mixed skeet final after scoring 138 out of 150 in qualification to finish fourth. The Indian combination produced scores of 44, 47 and 47 in qualification to secure their place in the medal round. China topped qualification with 145, followed by the Republic of Korea on 143 and China on 140, with India edging out Kuwait for the final qualifying berth.

The mixed skeet medal adds to India's growing haul in shooting at the Aichi-Nagoya Games, with the discipline once again emerging as a major contributor to the country's medal campaign. For Anantjeet, the bronze also adds to a growing Asian Games record, while Parinaaz's back-to-back medals highlight her emergence as a key member of India's skeet contingent.

The Indian pair's performance also extended the country's medal-winning streak in skeet, with both the men's and women's teams having already secured bronze on Wednesday.

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