Bhavtegh stays in contention for finals berth

Athens, Oct 11 (PTI) India's Bhavtegh Singh Gill remained in contention for a finals berth at the ISSF World Championship for Shotgun after completing the second day of men's skeet qualification with a total of 97 hits here on Saturday.

Bhavtegh followed up his perfect opening day with rounds of 24 and 23 to stay well within striking distance of the top six at the Malakasa Shooting Range.

Three-time world champion Vincent Hancock of the United States, and world No.4 Jakub Tomecek of Czech Republic, currently share the lead with 99 hits.

A tightly packed leaderboard sees 10 shooters tied for second on 98, while Bhavtegh sits just one hit behind Sweden's Henrik Jansson, USA's Christian Elliott, and seven others on 97.

Among the other Indians, Olympian Mairaj Ahmad Khan is placed 81st with 92 hits (24, 21, 25, 22), while Asian champion Anantjeet Singh Naruka is 91st with 90 hits (24, 24, 20, 22) after four rounds.

In the women's skeet competition, world No.1 Samantha Simonton of the USA leads the field with 98 hits.

India's Raiza Dhillon is placed 29th with 91 hits (23, 22, 24, 22), followed by Ganemat Sekhon in 38th with 88 hits (21, 22, 21, 24), and Parinaaz Dhaliwal in 43rd position with 87 hits (21, 23, 22, 21).

The final day of qualification will take place on Sunday, after which the top six shooters in both men's and women's events will progress to the finals. PTI AH AT AT