Neeru Dhanda wins Asian Games women's trap gold as coach Peter Wilson breaks umbrella in celebration
Neeru Dhanda's coach Peter Wilson broke an umbrella in celebration after the Indian shooter clinched the women's trap gold at the Asian Games on Tuesday. Wilson's reaction followed Neeru's 27th target that put the gold beyond doubt, and video captured the umbrella breaking around her 28th shot before he wrapped her in the Indian tricolour.
Wilson is India's national trap shooting coach and a 2012 London Olympics double trap gold medallist for Great Britain. He later guided Nathan Hales to Olympic gold in men's trap at the Paris 2024 Games and has now taken up the task of helping Indian trap shooting regain its place. Neeru's partnership with Wilson had already produced a major breakthrough: she became the first Indian woman to win an ISSF World Cup gold medal in trap at Lonato, Italy and set a new national record. "Coach Peter Wilson has joined us recently. He makes very meticulous plans and makes it so easy for us when it comes to execution. He is a hard-working coach. I have also been working with my personal coach, Mansher Singh, a Commonwealth Games medallist. I work with him on my technique and mental preparedness," Neeru had told the Sports Authority of India before the Asian Games.
Neeru became the first Indian woman to win an individual trap gold at the Asian Games after battling relentless rain and plunging temperatures in the final. The 26-year-old hit 28 of her 30 targets to finish ahead of China's Sun Yunong, who scored 26, while Kuwait's Abdulmalik Hajar took bronze with 21. The final unfolded on a rain-soaked range with poor visibility that made tracking the clay targets difficult.
The victory ended a 48-year wait for India's second individual men's or women's trap gold at the Asian Games; Randhir Singh won India's first trap gold at the 1978 Bangkok Games and Ronjan Sodhi took a men's double trap gold at the 2010 Guangzhou Games. "Gold in Women's Trap. HISTORY. First Gold in the event. First Gold on Trap since @RANDHIR1946 in 1978. We lost him this year. What a tribute from Neeru! He will be smiling and singing up there! pic.twitter.com/TFMKmvuRXB" — Digvijay Singh Deo (@DiggySinghDeo) September 29, 2026
Earlier in the day Neeru had helped India win silver in the women's trap team event alongside Aashima Ahlawat and Manisha Keer. Neeru shot 118, Aashima scored 106 and Manisha managed 104 as India finished with an aggregate of 328; China won the team gold with 346 while Kuwait took bronze with 325.
The 5'2" Naib Subedar in the Indian Army had entered the final after finishing the qualification rounds with 118. She shot 95 out of 100 in the first four rounds to take the sole lead into the final day, then shot 23 in the fifth round to finish on 118, level with Qatar's Bassil Ray, and book her place in the eight-shooter final. As the field thinned after the opening 10 targets, Neeru continued to find her targets while several rivals struggled; heading into the final five shots she held a two-point advantage over Sun Yunong. A brief interruption came when Neeru was shown a yellow card in a decision that was contested before she was given the benefit; she returned to the line and hit all five targets to finish with 28 and secure the gold.
As the final target shattered, celebrations broke out around the range. Wilson was the first to reach Neeru, congratulating her before wrapping her in the Indian flag, and his umbrella broke during the celebrations as he showed his emotion.
Neeru's gold was India's first-ever individual Asian Games medal in women's trap and the country's first individual shooting gold at the ongoing Games.