Neeru Dhanda wins women’s trap gold at National Shooting Championship

Neeru Dhanda won the women’s trap gold at the 68th National Shooting Championship in Delhi, while Aryavansh Tyagi clinched the junior men’s title. Madhya Pradesh and Haryana dominated team events, with Delhi securing gold in the junior women’s trap competition

Hyderabad: Asian Championship gold medalist Neeru Dhanda delivered a composed performance to win the women’s trap gold at the 68th National Shooting Championship Competitions (Shotgun) on Monday at the Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range in Delhi.

Neeru finished on top with 41 hits in the final, holding off a strong challenge from Delhi’s Kirti Gupta, who settled for silver with 40. Neeru’s state teammate from Madhya Pradesh, Pragati Dubey, completed the podium with bronze after scoring 32 hits.

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The junior men’s trap final saw Aryavansh Tyagi rise to the occasion with a strong finish, shooting 42 to win gold. Punjab’s Keshav Chauhan took silver with 37, while Uttar Pradesh’s Zuhair Khan claimed bronze with 30.

Zuhair Khan had earlier dominated the qualification round with a score of 120, ahead of Aryan Singh’s 118, who finished fifth in the final with 21 hits. Aryavansh Tyagi and Arjun both shot 115, with Aryavansh advancing on a shoot-off. Keshav Chauhan (113) and Manitwal Singh Rawat (112) completed the list of finalists. Manitwal finished fourth with 27, while Arjun of Haryana ended sixth with 14 hits.

In the team events, Madhya Pradesh dominated the women’s trap team competition, winning gold with a combined total of 339 from Pragati Dubey, Neeru Dhanda and Manisha Keer. Delhi secured silver with 333 through Addya Katyal, Kirti Gupta and Bhavya Tripathi, while Punjab claimed bronze with 319 from Rajeshwari Kumari, Pukhraj Kaur Chahal and Krishika Joshi.

Haryana claimed the junior men’s trap team gold with an aggregate score of 336, courtesy of Arjun, Lakshya Atree and Prikshit Arya. Gujarat finished second with 327 from Aryan Singh, Bakhtyar Uddin Mohamadmuzahid and Manavrajsinh Rajendrasinh Chudasama, while Rajasthan secured bronze with 326 through Udhav Singh Rathore, Prithviraj Singh Rathore and Vinay Pratap Singh C.

Delhi won the junior women’s trap team gold, as Addya Katyal, Bhavya Tripathi and Ananya Yaduvanshi combined for a winning total of 323. Tamil Nadu finished second with 295, while Rajasthan took bronze with 274.