Trap shooter Bhowneesh in joint lead at Almaty World Cup

Almaty (Kazakhstan), May 26 (PTI) Paris Olympics quota winner Bhowneesh Mendiratta missed two targets out of 75 to move into joint lead on day one of trap competition at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup here on Friday.

The 23-year-old from Faridabad was tied with four others, which included among others double world and 2020 Tokyo Olympics mixed team trap champion Alberto Fernandez of Spain.

The 69-strong field will come back for two more rounds of qualification on Saturday, before the six-shooter final, which is also scheduled on the same day.

Bhowneesh’s first and third rounds were perfect 25s. He missed only the 28th and 43rd targets and looked solid throughout.

His senior team-mates Zoravar Sandhu and Prithviraj Tondaiman were placed 16th and 23rd among the contenders, after shooting scores of 71 and 70 respectively. Both of them would be looking at perfect rounds on Saturday to harbour any hopes of qualifying for the final round.

In women’s trap, Shreyasi Singh was the best-placed Indian, having shot 70 to lie eighth.

Rio Olympics champion Catherine Skinner of Australia was leading the field with 73. India’s Manisha Keer was lying 22nd with a score of 65, while Preeti Rajak was 28th with a score of 61.

With a silver and a bronze, both in women’s skeet, India are currently fourth on the medals tally.