Neeru Dhanda and Vivaan Kapoor secured a bronze medal in the trap mixed team event at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup Shotgun in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Despite a strong performance, they narrowly missed out on a higher medal due to finishing second in the qualification round. Chinese Taipei’s Kun-Pi Yang and Wan-Yu Liu claimed the gold with a world record score in the final.
In the qualification round, Neeru and Vivaan shot 143, just two points behind the silver medalists from Italy. Both shooters displayed excellent form, with Vivaan missing only two targets out of 75. Their teammates, Ahvar Rizvi and Pragati Dubey, finished 23rd in the competition among 31 teams.
During the final, Neeru and Vivaan initially held the second position after the first 10 targets, with Chinese Taipei leading the field. Despite a strong effort, they were overtaken by Italy and China, ultimately finishing on par with the Italians but losing out due to qualification scores. This marked India’s second medal in the ISSF World Cup since the event became part of the Olympics.
Asian and National champion Neeru Dhanda also made it to the final of the women’s trap competition, finishing seventh. Despite a strong performance, she couldn’t secure a podium spot, with the top three positions taken by Olympic medalists. Australian Penny Smith clinched gold with a perfect score, followed by Spain’s Fatima Galvez with silver and Slovakia’s Zuzana Rehak Stefecekova with bronze.
Neeru’s impressive performance in the qualification rounds, including a perfect final round, helped her secure a spot in the final after initially ranking 21st. Her teammates, Manisha Keer and Pragati Dubey, also participated in the competition, finishing 26th and 29th, respectively.
