Asian Games: India Clinch Trap Silver, Neeru Dhanda and Shapath Bharadwaj Enter Finals

India secured a silver medal in the women’s trap team event at the Asian Games on Tuesday, while the men’s team finished sixth. Neeru Dhanda and Shapath Bharadwaj also booked places in their respective individual finals.

Neeru, Aashima Ahlawat and Manisha Keer combined for 328 points to finish second behind China, which won gold with 346. Kuwait took bronze with 325 points.

Neeru was India’s top performer, scoring 118 out of 125 in the individual qualification. She finished joint-first with Qatar’s Ray Bassil and set a Games qualification record. Her score also earned her a place in the eight-shooter women’s individual final.

Aashima finished 16th with 106 points, while Manisha was 23rd with 104.

In the men’s trap team event, Shapath Bharadwaj, Kynan Chenai and Ahvar Rizvi scored 339 points to finish sixth among 10 teams. Kuwait claimed gold with 355, Qatar won silver with 349 and Kazakhstan took bronze with 348.

Shapath made up for the team’s result by qualifying for the individual final. The 24-year-old Meerut shooter finished eighth in qualification after winning a shoot-off for the final spot against Mohammed Al-Rumaihi.

India will therefore have two shooters — Neeru Dhanda in the women’s final and Shapath Bharadwaj in the men’s final — competing for individual trap medals later on Tuesday.

The men’s team result came after India had won gold in the event at the previous Asian Games in China, where Kynan Chenai, Zoravar Singh Sandhu and Prithviraj Tondaiman topped the podium.