India’s Neeru Dhanda won gold in the women’s trap shooting individual final at the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya on Tuesday. Neeru finished the competition with a total score of 28, which became the new Asian record.
China’s Yunong Sun clinched silver with a score of 26, whereas Kuwait’s Abdulmalik Hajar won bronze with a score of 21.
This is India’s fifth gold medal at the 2026 overall. India have now won a total of 47 medals, including five gold, 21 silver and 21 bronze medals, and have climbed a spot to 11th in the medals tally.
Neeru Dhanda is an Indian shooter who competes in women’s trap shooting. She made history at the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya by winning India’s first-ever gold medal at the women’s individual trap event at the Games.
is a Naib Subedar in the Indian Army and trains with the Army Marksmanship Unit in Mhow, which is located in Indore.
She has competed internationally in women’s trap and has established herself as one of India’s leading shooters in the discipline.
Dhanda’s introduction to shooting was closely linked to her family. She was inspired to take up the sport after watching her maternal cousin Lakshay Sheoran win a silver medal in the men’s trap event at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.
Sheoran’s performance encouraged Dhanda to pursue shooting, and she initially trained using equipment available within her family. Her father, who is a farmer, also supported her early interest in the sport.
Before establishing herself internationally, Dhanda won at the domestic level, including a gold medal in women’s trap at the 2022 . Her progress subsequently took her to major international competitions in the ISSF circuit and Asian championships.
Her breakthrough on the international stage came at the 2025 Asian Shooting Championships in Shymkent, Kazakhstan. Dhanda won the women’s trap individual gold, finishing first in the event with a medal-match score of 43.
She then produced the biggest result of her career before the Asian Games at the 2026 ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Lonato, Italy.
Dhanda topped qualification with 121 out of 125, setting a new national record, before scoring 27 out of 30 in the final to win gold. The victory made her the first Indian woman to win an individual ISSF World Cup gold medal in women’s trap.
Dhanda’s 2026 World Cup campaign also included a bronze medal in the mixed team trap event at Almaty.
