In a historic win, Neeru Dhanda became India's first shooter to win an Asian Games gold medal in the women's trap individual event here. This is India’s fifth gold medal of the 2026 Asian Games, positioning the country in 11th position in the medal tally, with 47 medals.
She won the gold here with a score of 28, surpassing the previous Asian Record of 24. Dhanda earlier won a silver medal in the women’s trap team event, alongside Manisha Keer and Aashima Ahlawat.
The last time India won an individual gold in the trap event was when Randhir Singh won a gold medal in men’s trap in the 1978 Bangkok event.
Dhanda, a 26-year-old from Haryana, had also scripted history when she became the first Indian woman to win a World Cup gold medal in the trap event at the Shotgun World Cup in Italy in July. That gold was Neeru Dhanda’s first-ever individual medal at the ISSF World Cup and the second overall in her career.
Neeru had qualified for the eight-shooter final after finishing as joint topper along with Qatar's Ray Bassil at 118, which is a qualification Games record. Bassil ended up second behind Neeru in the finals.
Ahlawat and Keer too took part in the individual event, but finished 16th and 23rd respectively, failing to make the finals.
Silver for women
Earlier in the day, Neeru, along with Ahlawat and Keer, had finished a combined total of 328 to end second. China won the event. China won the event with gold (346).
The Chinese team comprised Liu Shanshan, Sun Yunong and Zhu Jingyu. Kuwait's trio of Alhawal Shahad, Abdulmalik Hajar and Alhawal Sarah bagged the bronze medal with a combined total of 325.
However, Indian men finished a disappointing sixth among 10 teams. The trio of Shapath Bharadwaj, Kynan Chenai and Ahvar Rizvi managed a combined total of 339.
Kuwait clinched the men's team gold with 355, while Qatar (349) and Kazakhstan (348) took the silver and bronze respectively.
The only saving grace was Bharadwaj qualifying for the final after finishing eighth. The 24-year-old from Meerut prevailed in a shoot-off for the last two qualification spots, edging out Mohammed Al-Rumaihi to secure the eighth and final berth.
