Neeru Dhanda produced India’s first individual gold medal at the Asian Games 2026 with her record-breaking performance in the women’s trap individual event. It was also India’s first Asian Games gold medal in the women’s trap event.
Earlier, in the women’s trap team final, which also served as the individual qualification, India (328) clinched the silver medal, finishing second behind China (346). Apart from Neeru Dhanda, who finished the individual qualification round on top (118), Aashima Ahlawat (106) and Manisha Keer (104) also represented India in the team final but failed to qualify for the individual final.
In the individual final, Neeru had a good start, but was just behind the joint leaders after the second series. However, she picked up momentum from the third series and took a lone lead in the fourth series, which she only maintained until the end. With 28 points, she secured an Asian record, previously 24 by Liu Wan-yu from Chinese Taipei, and clinched the gold medal.
In the meantime, Sun Yunong (26) from China and Hajar Abdulmalik (21) from Kuwait won the silver and bronze medals.
It was the first individual gold for India at the Asian Games 2026 and the fifth overall gold, while it was the second shooting gold, after the mixed 10m air pistol team (Suruchi Singh, Kamaljeet) clinched the gold. Meanwhile, Neeru became the first Indian woman to win an Asian Games trap event gold medal.
Asian Games 2026: Women's Trap Individual Final — Final Scores
Rank/Medals | Player (Nation) | Result | Note |
Gold | Neeru Dhanda (India) | 28 | Asian Record |
Silver | Sun Yunong (China) | 26 | |
Bronze | Hajar Abdulmalik (Kuwait) | 21 | |
4 | Ray Bassil (Qatar) | 16 | |
5 | Zhu Jingyu (China) | 13 | |
6 | Lin Yi-chun (Chinese Taipei) | 12 | |
7 | Liu Wan-yu (Chinese Taipei) | 6 | |
8 | Eleonora Ibragimova (Kazakhstan) | 6 |
Who is Neeru Dhanda?
Before winning her first Asiad silver and Asiad gold in the ongoing Asian Games 2026, Neeru Dhanda previously won two golds at the Asian Shooting Championships 2025 (one individual and one women’s team). In the ISSF World Cup 2026, she won one individual gold at Lonato del Garda, becoming the first Indian to win an ISSF World Cup gold medal in the women’s trap event.
After joining the Corps of Military Police, Neeru later became a Naib Subedar while she is training at the Army Marksmanship Unit in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh.