Asian Games 2026: Neeru Dhanda wins India’s first-ever gold medal in women’s individual trap shooting

Shooter Neeru Dhanda put up a stellar performance to win the women’s individual trap gold medal at the Asian Games 2026, marking India’s fifth gold of the tournament.

Having earlier contributed to India’s silver-winning campaign in the women’s trap team event alongside Aashima Ahlawat and Manisha Keer, where her individual qualification score touched 118 out of 125, Dhanda handled difficult rainy conditions well.

She finished atop the eight-shooter final with a total score of 26, better than competitors like China’s Sun Yunong and Kuwait’s Hajar Abdulmalik, who finished with 21 points each, while Qatar’s Ray Bassil took fourth place with 16 points.

Dhanda began the final strongly, hitting all five targets in her opening series. She missed once in the second series but recovered immediately and remained in contention before producing a late surge.

She hit a perfect series in the third round to move back to the top and followed it with another strong sequence, reaching 19 hits out of 20 shots after four series.

After 25 shots, Dhanda led Sun 23-21, with Hajar also on 21 before being eliminated. The Indian then held her nerve in the final stage to seal the gold medal.

The victory capped a remarkable year for Dhanda, who won her maiden ISSF World Cup gold in the women’s trap event in Lonato, Italy, in July.

The Indian Army Marksmanship Unit shooter, who is also a Naib Subedar, had earlier won the Asian Championship title and has now added an Asian Games gold to her growing list of achievements.

Earlier on Tuesday, Dhanda, Ahlawat and Keer won silver in the women’s trap team event with a combined score of 328, while China took gold with 346 and Kuwait secured bronze with 325. Her individual gold took India’s medal tally to 47, comprising five gold, 21 silver and 21 bronze medals.

Inspired initially by her cousin Lakshay Sheoran, who won silver in the men’s trap event at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Dhanda has now gone one step further on the Asian Games stage, completing a memorable day for Indian shooting.

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