Italy is the most-loved destination for Indian skeet shooters.
The nation provides the Indian skeet shooters practicing for the various events, including the Olympic Games, with the best facilities, equipments, training partners, and reliable coaches.
Two-time World Champion Riccardo Filippelli is one such coach. He has not only coached the veteran Mairaj Ahmad Khan to a historic gold medal for India in 2022 but also brought the Indian mixed skeet team of Maheshwari Chauhan and Anant Jeet Singh Naruka close to a podium finish at the Paris 2024. The duo lost 43-44 against China’s Jiang Yiting and Lyu Jianlin in the bronze medal match at last year’s Summer Olympic Games.
In a freewheeling chat with Olympic First from Italy, the 44-year-old shares his own journey and future aspirations for the Indian national shooting team.
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1. Tell us about how you got into skeet shooting and at what age?
I started shooting at the Olympic Skeet very late, at 28, for fun.
Then, doing the first competitions, I started winning and years later I was in the Italian National Team.
2. What were your initial challenges?
My initial challenges were national competitions that I won continuously and with very high scores for my little experience. From there the old National CT noticed me and called me to the National Team.
3. Italy is known for its skeet shooting facilities. Tell us how the facilities at home differ from what you’ve seen in India?
The shooting facilities in Italy are very beautiful and above all very functional. Obviously, the clay pigeon shooting machine factories, the rifle factories and the ammunition factories are all in Italy, so it is easier for us to logistically organize a shooting range well compared to other countries.
Working a lot in India I have noticed a clear improvement in recent years compared to the past and now I have to say that in my opinion the Indian facilities are at the usual level of the Italian ones. The Bhopal facility in my opinion is currently the best.
4. How’s your partnership with Maheshwari Chauhan going on. What changes have you been able to bring to her game?
Mahe is one of the family, she has become a sister to me and I am the same to her.
In two years of working together we have created something incredible, arriving not only at the Olympics, but almost getting a medal that was 100% deserved, after a splendid 74/75…..but we will not miss the next medal, I promise! We are a strong and very connected team and I believe a lot in her and in the near future.
Working together I understood what she needs and where to work both technically and mentally, so from now on we will work with less stress.
5. You also trained with Mairaj Ahmad Khan for a while. How was that partnership?
I trained with Mairaj for a long time, winning all and I repeat all the Indian competitions, but above all we won the first time in Indian history, a gold medal in the World Cup in Korea (2022). We are currently working together and we will try to win the Olympic Pass for Los Angeles, our current goal is this. Our relationship is brotherly and we talk every day for technical comparisons, physical comparisons and to decide the training plans.
6. What’s your personal goal for 2025?
My goal for 2025 is to win as many medals as possible for the Indian Federation, and bring a person very dear to me into the Indian National team….it’s a promise I made to myself and I hope to keep it as soon as possible.
7. I remember speaking to Angad Bajwa. He told me that assembling his skeet shooting rifle took INR 7 lakh approximately. How much did it cost you in Italy?
Bajwa is a dear friend, a formidable shooter but above all a unique and very intelligent guy. The gun is very expensive even in Italy, and prices have increased a lot in recent years. Now in Italy to buy a good skeet rifle, you have to spend about 9,000/10,000 €.
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