Neeru Dhanda and Vivaan Kapoor won bronze in the trap mixed team event at the ISSF World Cup Shotgun in Almaty, Kazakhstan on Sunday, capping India's campaign at the international competition on a strong note. The Indian pair shot 24 out of 30 targets in the final and matched the top-seeded Italian duo of Silvana Stanco and Mauro De Filippis on points, but lost out on silver due to their second-place qualification finish.

The final showdown

Chinese Taipei's Kun-Pi Yang and Wan-Yu Liu claimed gold with a world record score of 36 in the final. After the opening 10 targets, Kun and Wan led with a perfect score. Neeru missed her third shot to slip India into second place, though Vivaan responded by hitting all five of his targets in the opening series. Italy and Chinese Taipei were tied for third at that stage with five hits each from their first 10 shots. The Italians edged ahead by one after 20 targets, while Chinese Taipei extended their lead over India by two as Neeru registered two additional misses. In the third series, the Italian pair demonstrated their pedigree by hitting all three targets, though Vivaan missed his first shot of the decider on his 13th attempt. Both India and Italy finished on identical scores; the Italians' superior qualification performance determined the medal split.

Qualification performance

Vivaan and Neeru had shot 143 in qualification, finishing just two points behind Silvana, a Paris Olympic silver medalist, and Mauro, a former world champion. Both shooters delivered perfect third rounds of 25 each, with Vivaan missing only two of 75 targets across the qualification rounds.

Neeru's individual trap campaign

Neeru also competed in the women's trap event, reaching the final after a remarkable qualification surge. She fired rounds of 23 and 25 to post a career-best ISSF qualification score of 116 (broken down as 23, 23, 22, 23, 25), climbing from 21st position at the start of the day to secure the eighth and final qualification spot. However, she finished seventh in the final with seven hits after the first elimination stage of 10 shots. Penny Smith of Australia, the Paris Olympics bronze medalist, won gold with a world record 30 out of 30 hits. Fatima Galvez of Spain, the Tokyo Olympics Mixed Team champion, took silver with 25 hits, while Zuzana Rehak Stefecekova of Slovakia, a three-time Olympic medalist and former world and Olympic champion, claimed bronze. This was Neeru's second World Cup final in two years, following a fourth-place finish in Lonato last year.

Supporting cast

Ahvar Rizvi and Pragati Dubey finished 23rd in the mixed team competition with a score of 130 out of the 31-team field. In the women's individual trap, Manisha Keer and Pragati Dubey shot 112 and 111, respectively, to finish 26th and 29th.

India's Olympic trajectory

The bronze medal marks India's second podium finish in trap mixed team since the event became part of the Olympic programme last year, underscoring the nation's growing competitiveness in shotgun disciplines at the world level.