Indian women take trap team silver; men finish sixth as Neeru and Shapath reach individual finals
Indian women shooters won the trap team silver while the men's side finished sixth at the Asian Games in Japan on Tuesday, and Neeru Dhanda and Shapath Bharadwaj advanced to the individual finals.
The Indian women's trio of Neeru Dhanda, Aashima Ahlawat and Manisha Keer accumulated a team total of 328 to finish second behind China, which won gold with 346 points; Kuwait took bronze with 325. Neeru led India with 118 out of 125 in qualification, finishing joint-top with Qatar's Ray Bassil and setting a Games qualification record; she secured a place in the eight-shooter individual final. Aashima scored 106 and Manisha 104 in qualification, placing 16th and 23rd respectively.
The Chinese gold-medal team comprised Liu Shanshan, Sun Yunong and Zhu Jingyu, while Kuwait's bronze trio was Alhawal Shahad, Abdulmalik Hajar and Alhawal Sarah; India finished three points ahead of Kuwait to claim silver.
On the men's side India placed sixth among 10 teams as Shapath Bharadwaj, Kynan Chenai and Ahvar Rizvi combined for 339 points. Kuwait won men's team gold with 355, Qatar took silver with 349 and Kazakhstan earned bronze with 348.
Shapath finished eighth in the men's qualification and, as the 24-year-old from Meerut, had to go through a shoot-off; he edged out Mohammed Al-Rumaihi to claim the eighth and final spot in the individual final.
India's sixth-place finish in the men's team event followed the country's gold in the men's trap team at the previous Asian Games in China, when Kynan Chenai, Zoravar Singh Sandhu and Prithviraj Tondaiman combined to win the title.
Both individual finals are scheduled for later on Tuesday, with Neeru Dhanda competing in the women's eight-shooter individual final and Shapath Bharadwaj taking part in the men's individual final.
