Indian women win trap silver, men finish 6th; Neeru and Shapath reach final
Indian women shooters bagged a silver medal in the trap team event, while the men finished sixth at the Asian Games in Japan on Tuesday. The trio of Neeru Dhanda, Aashima Ahlawat and Manisha Keer finished with a combined score of 328 to take second place behind China, which won the gold medal with 346 points. Kuwait claimed the bronze with 325 points.
Neeru led India's challenge with a score of 118 out of a possible 125. She finished joint-top alongside Qatar's Ray Bassil in the individual qualification and set a Games qualification record.
Neeru also qualified for the eight-shooter individual final, which will be held later on Tuesday. Aashima scored 106, while Manisha contributed 104. The two finished 16th and 23rd respectively in the individual qualification.
The Chinese team that won gold comprised Liu Shanshan, Sun Yunong, and Zhu Jingyu. Kuwait's bronze-medal-winning trio was Alhawal Shahad, Abdulmalik Hajar and Alhawal Sarah.
India finished three points ahead of Kuwait to secure the silver medal.SHAPATH MAKES MEN'S TRAP FINAL
The Indian men's trap team finished sixth among 10 teams, with Shapath Bharadwaj, Kynan Chenai and Ahvar Rizvi combining for 339 points. Kuwait won the gold medal with 355 points, while Qatar took silver with 349 and Kazakhstan secured bronze with 348.
Shapath, however, secured a place in the individual final after finishing eighth in qualification. The 24-year-old from Meerut had to go through a shoot-off for the final two qualification spots. He edged out Mohammed Al-Rumaihi to claim the eighth and final berth.
Shapath will now compete in the individual final later on Tuesday. India's sixth-place finish in the team event was a setback after the country had won gold in the men's trap team event at the previous Asian Games in China.
Kynan Chenai, Zoravar Singh Sandhu and Prithviraj Tondaiman had combined to win the gold medal for India at the previous edition. India will have two shooters in the individual trap finals on Tuesday, with Neeru making the women's final and Shapath qualifying for the men's final.- Ends
