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Haryana shooter also anchors team to silver on a landmark Tuesday for Indian shooting
New Delhi : Neeru Dhanda etched her name into Indian sporting history on Tuesday, becoming the first Indian to win Asian Games gold in the women’s individual trap event and setting a new continental record in the process.
The 26-year old from Haryana finished with a score of 28 in the final, bettering the previous Asian record of 24. China’s Sun Yunong took silver with 26, while Kuwait’s Abdulmalik Hajar claimed bronze with 21.
The individual triumph came after Dhanda had already helped India secure silver in the women’s trap team event earlier in the day.
Dhanda, who became the first Indian woman to win a World Cup trap gold in July this year, had entered the eight shooter final in commanding fashion. She topped the qualification round jointly with Qatar’s Ray Bassil, both posting 118, a new Games record for qualification.
No Indian woman trap shooter had previously won an individual medal at the Asian Games. India’s earlier individual trap successes at the event came in the men’s categories: Randhir Singh won the men’s individual trap gold in 1978, and Ronjan Sodhi took the men’s double trap individual gold in 2010.
Mudasir Maqbool
