Neeru picks individual gold and team silver in women’s Trap; Parveen and Ankush in boxing finals

V Krishnaswamy in Nagoya

Nagoya: Neeru Dhanda produced one of the standout performances of India’s Asian Games campaign on Tuesday, turning a day that had already brought her a team silver into a golden one as she became the first Indian woman to win an Asian Games gold medal in a shotgun event.

The 26-year-old shooter was almost flawless in the women’s trap final at the Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Gallery, hitting 28 of her 30 targets to win the gold with an Asian Games record. China’s Sun Yunong took silver with 26 hits, while Kuwait’s Hajar Abdulmalik won bronze with 21.

Earlier on Tuesday, Dhanda had combined with Aashima Ahlawat and Manisha Keer to win the women’s trap team silver. India finished with 328, with Dhanda contributing a competition-leading 118. Ahlawat and Keer added 106 and 104 respectively.

Dhanda’s gold and the women’s team silver took India’s shooting haul at the Asian Games to 14 medals — two gold, eight silver and four bronze.

China dominated the team competition with 346, while Kuwait claimed bronze with 325. China’s trio included Zhu Jingyu, the women’s trap champion at the 2014 Asian Games.

For Dhanda, the double medal haul capped a remarkable rise in international shooting.

Dhanda’s 28 was four better than the previous Asian record of 24 and completed a remarkable day for the Indian shooter, who won a gold and a silver in the women’s trap.

India also advanced strongly in the boxing competition, with Parveen Hooda and Ankush Panghal securing places in their respective gold-medal bouts with impressive semifinal victories.

Parveen Hooda booked her place in the women’s 65kg final after a commanding 5-0 victory over China’s Li Shu. Hooda controlled the bout from the opening exchanges and secured a unanimous decision to move one step closer to the Asian Games gold medal.

Ankush Panghal produced an equally significant result in the men’s 80kg category, stunning world champion Fazliddin Erkinboev of Uzbekistan 4-1 in the semifinal. The Indian boxer’s victory ensured another gold-medal opportunity for India and added to an increasingly productive day for the country’s boxing contingent.

In tennis, Dakshineswar Suresh continued his run in the men’s singles competition with a straight-sets victory over Indonesia’s Gunawan Trismuwantara. Suresh prevailed 7-5, 7-6(2) in a closely contested match to advance to the pre-quarterfinals.

Dhanda’s gold also carried historic significance. Dhanda became the first Indian woman to win an Asian Games gold in any shotgun discipline and India’s first-ever individual medallist in women’s trap at the continental showpiece, an event that made its Asian Games debut at Beijing 1990.

Her victory was India’s second shooting gold of the Games, following Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet’s triumph in the 10m air pistol mixed team event.

Dhanda began the final in commanding fashion, smashing all five targets in the opening series. She dropped one in the second series but immediately regained her rhythm, producing two successive perfect rounds to reach 19 hits from 20 targets.

That consistency opened a two-target advantage over her closest challengers and, from there, Dhanda never looked seriously threatened. She missed just once in the fifth series before closing with another perfect five to finish on 28 and secure a landmark gold.

Her performance had been building throughout the competition. Dhanda topped the three-day qualification with 118 hits from 125 targets, finishing level with Qatar’s Ray Bassil before winning the shoot-off for first place.

Dhanda arrived in Aichi-Nagoya as the reigning Asian champion after winning the continental title in Shymkent in 2025. Earlier this year, she added another major milestone by becoming the first Indian woman trap shooter to win an ISSF World Cup gold.

Dhanda achieved that historic feat at Lonato, Italy, in July, topping qualification with a national record of 121 out of 125 before shooting 27 in the final.

Her Asian Games gold now adds another significant chapter to a career that has rapidly gathered momentum. More importantly for Indian shooting, her victory provides a landmark breakthrough in a discipline in which the country has traditionally looked more strongly towards its men for major international success.

There was less cheer in the men’s trap competition, where Shapath Bharadwaj was the only Indian to make the individual final. He secured his place through a shoot-off for one of the remaining qualification spots but was the first shooter eliminated in the medal round after missing three of his 10 shots.

Kynan Chenai finished qualification with 115 hits, while Ahvar Rizvi managed 107, with neither advancing to the final. The Indian men’s team of Shapath, Chenai and Rizvi finished sixth with 339.

And while the numbers underline India’s growing strength in shooting, Dhanda’s achievement stands apart. She did not merely add another medal to the tally; she broke new ground for Indian women in shotgun shooting, setting an Asian Games record in the process.

On a day when she had already helped India onto the podium, Dhanda returned to the range and produced the performance of a champion. Twenty-eight hits from 30 targets, two missed opportunities and one historic gold — a day she is unlikely to forget.