Shekhawat hails India's first skeet mixed team medal at Asian Games
Synopsis
Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat congratulated shooters Parinaaz Dhaliwal and Anantjeet Singh Naruka for winning India's first-ever bronze in the skeet mixed team event at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, calling their feat an inspiration for the country's youth.
Key Takeaways
Historic first: India won its first-ever medal in the skeet mixed team event at the Asian Games, claiming bronze at Aichi-Nagoya 2026 .
The medal-winning pair is Parinaaz Dhaliwal and Anantjeet Singh Naruka .
Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat offered congratulations via X on 24 September 2026 .
Shekhawat described the achievement as a source of inspiration for India's youth.
India's shooting contingent has been a consistent medal-winning group at Asian Games editions since the 2000s.
The 2026 Asian Games are being hosted by Aichi-Nagoya, Japan .
India scripted a historic first at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, claiming a bronze medal in the skeet mixed team event — a discipline in which the country had never stood on the podium before. Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat took to X on Thursday, 24 September 2026, to celebrate the achievement and congratulate the duo who made it possible.
Posting in Hindi, Shekhawat offered his 'heartfelt congratulations and best wishes' — hārdik badhaī evam śubhkāmnaẽ — to shooters Parinaaz Dhaliwal and Anantjeet Singh Naruka, calling their accomplishment an inspiration for the country's youth. 'This achievement of yours will provide inspiration to young people,' he wrote, adding the hashtags #AsianGames2026 and #Cheer4Bharat.A first for India in skeet mixed team shooting
The skeet mixed team format pairs a male and a female shooter competing together — a discipline that demands synchronised skill, nerve, and range consistency across simultaneous rounds. India's bronze in this event is a genuine landmark: in all previous editions of the Asian Games, the country had not reached the podium in this specific combination event. That Dhaliwal and Naruka did so at Aichi-Nagoya marks a clear expansion of India's shooting medal map.
Dhaliwal and Naruka: the pair behind the bronze
Parinaaz Dhaliwal is among India's prominent competitive skeet shooters, and Anantjeet Singh Naruka has been a consistent figure on the national shooting circuit. Their partnership in the mixed team format reflects the depth India's shooting programme has developed over successive training cycles. The country's shooting contingent has been among its stronger medal-hunting groups at Asian Games since the 2000s, backed by upgrades to national training infrastructure and targeted international exposure.
Sports diplomacy from the Culture Ministry's corner
Shekhawat's congratulatory post is part of a broader pattern in which Union ministers — including those outside the Sports Ministry — amplify individual sporting achievements on social media to build national momentum around major multi-sport events. With India still in competition at Asian Games 2026, every podium finish feeds into a larger story about the country's sporting ambitions. A first-ever medal in any discipline is the kind of milestone that tends to trigger follow-up attention from the sports establishment — including questions of funding continuity and academy support for the athletes involved.
For Dhaliwal and Naruka, the bronze is not the ceiling — it is the opening line of what they would want to be a longer story in international shooting.
Point of View
Government-backed effort to widen the country's shooting medal map beyond its traditional strongholds like 10m air pistol and rifle. A first-ever podium in any discipline at the Asian Games is the kind of proof-of-concept moment that typically strengthens the case for dedicated mixed-format training programmes. Shekhawat's endorsement from the Culture and Tourism ministry — not Sports — also signals how broadly the government has sought to own India's sporting successes as a national narrative tool. The pressure now shifts to the Sports Ministry to ensure Dhaliwal and Naruka receive the structural support needed to convert this breakthrough into a medal-series, not a one-off.
NationPress
24 Sept 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Did India win a medal in skeet mixed team at Asian Games 2026?
Yes. India won a bronze medal in the skeet mixed team event at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan — the country's first-ever podium finish in this discipline at the Games.
Who are Parinaaz Dhaliwal and Anantjeet Singh Naruka?
Parinaaz Dhaliwal and Anantjeet Singh Naruka are Indian competitive skeet shooters who paired up to win the bronze medal in the skeet mixed team event at the 2026 Asian Games.
Where are the 2026 Asian Games being held?
The 2026 Asian Games are being hosted in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
What did Gajendra Singh Shekhawat say about the skeet bronze?
Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat congratulated Dhaliwal and Naruka, calling their achievement a source of inspiration for India's youth.
How has India performed in shooting at the Asian Games historically?
India's shooting contingent has delivered consistent medals at Asian Games editions since the 2000s, supported by national training infrastructure upgrades, making shooting one of the country's stronger disciplines at the Games.
