Mumbai, Sep 29: Neeru Dhanda made history at the Asian Games held on Tuesday. She achieved the distinction of becoming the first Indian female shooter to win a gold medal in the individual trap event.
The 26-year-old athlete from Haryana had previously become the first Indian woman to win a gold medal in the trap event at the Shotgun World Cup held in Italy last July. Now, at the Asian Games, she secured the gold medal by scoring 28 points, thereby breaking the previous Asian record of 24 points.
No Indian female shooter had previously won an individual medal in the trap or skeet shooting events at the Asian Games.
This was Neeru’s second medal of the day; earlier, she had won a silver medal in the women’s trap team event.
In the women’s team event, the squad comprising Neeru Dhanda (118), Ashima Ahlawat (106), and Manisha Keer (104) scored a total of 328 points. Consequently, they finished behind the gold-medal-winning Chinese team (346 points) and settled for the silver medal.