Indian women win first skeet team medal at Asian Games
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In Hangzhou, China, Raiza Dhillon, Maheshwari Chauhan, and Parinaaz Dhaliwal won a team bronze medal in women’s skeet shooting at the Asian Games.
The three athletes each grew up around firearms owned by their grandfathers and great-grandfathers, sparking their early interest in the sport. Raiza Dhillon trained in Patiala after discovering her family’s collection of more than 20 guns in Haryana and Panchkula.
Parinaaz Dhaliwal began with air rifles but switched to shotguns after hearing hunting stories from elders in her village near Barnala. Maheshwari Chauhan also started with air rifles and needed custom equipment built for her smaller stature when she began training in Siana, Rajasthan. The team scored 331, placing behind China and Kazakhstan. Although none of the three women advanced to the individual finals, their combined score secured India’s first-ever medal in this event at the Asian Games.
The women’s skeet mixed team event debuted in 1990 and had previously been dominated by China, Korea, Kazakhstan, and North Korea. Coach Riccardo Filippelli expressed pride in the historic medal but believed his shooters were capable of winning individual medals. The athletes plan to display their medals alongside family heirlooms, guns passed down through generations, continuing a tradition of connecting the sport to their family histories.
