Sports
oi-Gaurav Sharma
Indian Army shooter Neeru Dhanda scripted history on her debut at the Asian Games 2026, winning gold in the women’s trap event to hand-pick India’s first individual gold medal at the Games.
The 26-year-old Jind girl outshot the competition at the Aichi Pref. General Shooting Gallery in Aichi-Nagoya on Tuesday to register 28 hits out of 30.
Indian Army shooter Neeru Dhanda made history at the Asian Games 2026 in Aichi-Nagoya on Tuesday, winning India’s first individual gold medal in the women’s trap event with a new Asian record of 28 hits out of 30.
Neeru also set a new Asian record, as Dhanda bettered the previous record by four shots.
China’s Sun Yunong took silver with 26 hits while Kuwait’s Hajar Abdulmalik bagged bronze with 21.
Army shooter keeps her cool in the final
Shooting for the Army, Dhanda went into the final series with a two-target lead over China’s Sun Yunong.
With rain lashing the shooting range, the Army girl kept her cool to register five targets in a row in the final when the pressure was on.
Her only misses in the final came in the second and fifth series.
Dhanda showed nerves of steel to keep the pressure off Sun and finish with a record 28 hits to give India its first individual gold medal at the Asian Games.
From cousin’s medal to Army shooter’s gold
Inspired to take up the sport by her cousin Lakshay Sheoran, who had bagged an Asian Games medal last year, Dhanda made her mark at the shooting range.
And the Army shooter has now etched her name in the pantheon of Indian shooters who have excelled at the Asian Games.
India’s rich shooting credentials at Aichi-Nagoya got a fillip today with Dhanda scripting history by becoming the first Indian woman to win gold at the women’s trap event.
It came after 10 days of waiting for India’s first individual gold medal at the Asian Games, and underlined the mettle of the Army girl who came through the pressure-cooker final to register 28 targets out of 30.
