Asian Champion Neeru Dhanda delivered a brilliant display in shotgun shooting to win her maiden ISSF World Cup title in the women’s trap in Lonato, Italy.
Competing at the Trap Concaverde range in Lonato, Neeru dominated the competition from the outset. She topped the qualification round with an impressive score of 121 out of 125 before producing a brilliant 27 out of 30 in the final to clinch the gold medal in a very stacked field that included former world champions.
“My only objective going into the final was to win the gold medal,” Neeru told ISSF media after her triumph. “I knew everyone here would give their 100%, but I believed I had to give 200% if I wanted to win gold. That was the mindset I carried into the final, and I gave it everything I had.”
She edged past the 2022 World Champion, Carole Cormenier of France, who claimed the silver medal with a score of 25 out of 30. The host nation’s Erica Sessa clinched the bronze medal, bowing out with a final score of 19.
Meanwhile, reigning World Champion Mar Molne Magrina of Spain missed out on the podium, finishing fourth with 14 hits.
This breakthrough performance marks a satisfying moment for Neeru as she finished an agonizing fourth-place at this exact venue the previous year. It also marked the first individual ISSF World Cup medal after reaching three World Cup finals, including back to back appearances in Lonato.
“Even though I had reached the final in the previous three competitions, I missed out on a medal every time. Sometimes I was eliminated early, and other times I fell short later in the final. This time, my challenge was to stay among the top scores throughout and keep fighting until the very end. No matter what happened, I didn’t want to drop out of contention. From qualification to the very last shot of the final, I wanted to shoot with complete commitment, and I’m happy that I was able to do exactly that,” said the reigning National champion.
The Lonato gold added to Neeru’s growing World Cup success after securing a trap mixed team bronze in Almaty earlier this year.
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