Shapath Bharadwaj survives thrilling shootout to reach Asian Games trap shooting final

India’s Shapath Bharadwaj (PTI Photo) India’s Shapath Bharadwaj booked his place in the men’s individual trap shootout final after surviving a thrilling three-way shootout at the Asian Games on Tuesday.Shapath finished joint seventh in qualifying with 117 points, putting him in a shootout against Qatar’s Mohammed Al-Rumaihi and Kazakhstan’s Alisher Aisalbayev for the two remaining spots in the final.Asian Games full coverage | Schedule | Medal totalThe Indian held his nerve in the decider to see off Al-Rumaihi to seal his place in the medal round.Hangzhou 2023 bronze medalist Kynan Chenai finished 16th with 115 points, while Ahvar Rizvi finished 32nd with 107. Both missed out on qualifying for the individual finals.The result gave Shapatha a chance to challenge for a medal despite the Indian men’s trap team failing to make it to the podium.Shapath, Kynan and Ahvar combined for 339 points to finish sixth in the team event.

India added another shooting medal

Earlier, the Indian trap team of Neeru Dhanda, Aashima Ahlawat and Manisha Keer secured silver, taking the country’s shooting medal tally to 13.The Indian trio amassed 328 points after three days of 125-shot qualifying to finish second and fend off the challenge of Kuwait.China won the gold medal with a total of 346, while Kuwait won the bronze with 325.Neeru also advanced to the women’s singles final after topping the qualifiers with 118 points.However, Aashima and Manisha did not make it to the finals. Aashima scored 106 to finish 16th while Manisha scored 104 to finish 23rd.Among India’s 13 shooting medals, only one is gold so far. Kamaljeet and Suruchi Singh bagged this title in 10ms mixed air pistol with a stellar performance.Overall, India’s medal tally in the ongoing Asian Games is 46, which includes four gold, 21 silver and 21 bronze medals.