Shotgun World C'ships: Raiza, Bhavtegh miss finals as USA win both skeet gold

New Delhi, Oct 12 (IANS) Bhavtegh Singh Gill and Olympian Raiza Dhillon missed out on spots in their respective finals as the skeet events at the ISSF World Championship Shotgun 2025 concluded at the Malakasa Shooting Range in Athens, Greece, on Sunday. 

The day belonged to the United States, as World No.1 Samantha Simonton and four-time Olympic champion Vincent Hancock claimed the women’s and men’s skeet gold medals, respectively, leading to a remarkable clean sweep of all four skeet gold medals for Team USA, with the men's and women's team gold medals also going to them.

In the women’s skeet final, Simonton shot 57 to take gold ahead of Mexico’s Gabriela Rodriguez, who secured silver with 54 hits, while Sweden’s Victoria Larsson clinched bronze with 44. Earlier in the qualification, Simonton had topped the field with 122 hits, followed by Rodriguez on 120 (+8 in shoot-off) and Larsson, who claimed the sixth and final qualification spot with 119 (+3), edging out veteran Kimberly Rhode and Slovakia’s Vanesa Hockova.

Among the Indians, Raiza Dhillon finished 16th with a total of 116 hits (23, 22, 24, 22, 25), while Parinaaz Dhaliwal (21, 23, 22, 21, 23) and Ganemat Sekhon (21, 22, 24, 21, 22) finished 44th and 47th, respectively, with 110 hits each.

In the women’s team event, the American trio of Samantha Simonton, Kimberly Rhode, and Dania Jo Vizzi (15th individually) clinched gold with a combined score of 358. Cyprus (349) took silver, Slovakia (348) secured bronze, and India finished eighth with 336.

In the men’s competition, Vincent Hancock shot 59 in the final to claim his fifth individual World Championship gold. Czechia’s Daniel Korcak won silver with 55, while Denmark’s Emil Kjeldgaard Petersen took bronze with 45. Hancock had earlier topped the qualification with 124 out of 125 hits.

India’s Bhavtegh Singh Gill shot 22 in his final round to finish 38th with 119 hits (25, 25, 24, 23, 22). Olympian Mairaj Ahmad Khan and Asian champion Anantjeet Singh Naruka both ended their campaigns strongly with perfect 25s in the final round, finishing 53rd and 83rd respectively with totals of 117 (24, 21, 25, 22, 25) and 115 (24, 24, 20, 22, 25).

Team USA also claimed men’s team gold with 365 hits, followed by Italy (363) and hosts Greece (361). India placed 16th with a combined score of 351.

--IANS

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