Kuwait City:Raiza Dhillon ensured the 18th quota place for the Paris Games for India after bagging a silver medal in the women's skeet event of the Asia Olympic Qualification for Shotgun here on Saturday. Dhillon, 19, was going strong in the contest and was leading the six-women final till the halfway stage. However, she missed two or three targets and lagged behind China's Jinmei Gao, who won the gold medal by shooting 56 targets in the 60-shot fina, and as a result, Dhillon finished the fixture in second place with 52 hits.
Both Gao and Dhillon grabbed a Paris Games quota each for their respective country. Dhillon's compatriot Maheshwari Chauhan settled for the bronze with 43, while Ganemat Sekhon, the other Indian shooter in the final, finished in the fourth position with 30 hits to her name.
Dhillon rose to the top by hitting six out of six targets and then continued the lead with 14 hits gaining a two-point lead over Gao. But, the engrossing final saw a turning point after that as the Indian missed two targets and Gao took the lead. Dhillon missed her aim once again leaving the Chinese two points ahead. Afterwards, she and Maheshwari Chauhan were fighting to grab a silver medal in the event. Dhillon then overtook Maheshwari Chauhan and the latter left her station with bronze. She missed twice at the start of the gold medal contest and Gao led by three points to seal the game in her favour.
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