Shapath Bharadwaj Qualifies for Men’s Trap Final at Asian Games, India Misses Team Podium

Shapath Bharadwaj kept India’s medal hopes alive in the men’s trap shooting competition at the Asian Games 2026, securing the final qualification spot after a tense shoot-off for eighth place.

The Asian Games debutant finished the qualification round with 117 hits out of 125, placing eighth and booking his place in the men’s trap individual final. He will return to the range at 12:00 PM IST, with an individual medal now within reach. The qualification battle went down to the wire. With the final two qualification positions being decided through a shoot-off, Shapath held his nerve to edge Mohammed Al-Rumaihi of Qatar for the eighth and final spot.

That result turned what had been a closely contested qualification campaign into a breakthrough moment for the Indian shooter, who represents the NCOE programme. Shapath’s qualification was particularly important for India after the men’s trap team missed out on the podium earlier in the competition. The Indian trio of Kynan Chenai, Shapath Bharadwaj and Ahvar Rizvi finished sixth in the team event with a combined score of 339.

China won the team competition, while India was unable to convert its collective performance into a medal. The team result meant that Shapath’s individual qualification became the country’s principal medal opportunity in the men’s trap event.

Shapath's score of 117 placed him level with the qualification cut-off, making the shoot-off decisive. Rather than allowing the pressure of the final qualification position to derail his campaign, the Indian held on to secure eighth place. For a debutant, the progression from qualification to an individual Asian Games final represents a significant moment. Shapath will now face the strongest remaining field in the competition, with the medal positions to be decided in the final.

His performance also stood out within the Indian trio. Kynan Chenai, one of India's experienced trap shooters, finished 16th with 115 hits, narrowly missing out on the final. Kynan was only two hits behind Shapath in the qualification standings, but the final qualification positions ultimately came down to the shoot-off.

Ahvar Rizvi, another Asian Games debutant and a Khelo India athlete, finished 32nd with 107 hits. The three scores combined to give India 339 points in the team event, but the spread between the individual totals also illustrates how Shapath's final-round qualification became the defining moment of India's men's trap campaign.

With the team event already concluded, attention now shifts entirely to Shapath. The Indian enters the final having already negotiated the most difficult part of the qualification process: finishing inside the top eight. His qualification score of 117 demonstrates the level required to remain in contention, while the shoot-off provided an additional test of composure.

The final, however, resets the competitive equation. The qualification standings determine who advances, but the medal positions will be decided in the final round itself. For Shapath, the objective is therefore straightforward: reproduce the accuracy that carried him into the final while managing the additional pressure of a medal being at stake. His route to the final has already been dramatic. After 125 targets, the difference between advancing and exiting came down to a shoot-off for the final qualification place. Shapath emerged on the right side of that contest and earned another opportunity on the Asian Games stage.

India will now have two individual trap finalists in Nagoya, with Shapath Bharadwaj joining Neeru Dhanda, who qualified for the women's trap final after topping the qualification standings alongside Qatar's Ray Bassil.While the Indian men's team could not secure a team medal, Shapath's qualification ensures that the men's event still has an Indian presence in the medal contest.

The final begins at 12:00 PM IST, when the Asian Games debutant will return to the range with a chance to turn his eighth-place qualification into a podium finish.

For Shapath, the morning was about surviving the cut. The afternoon is about competing for a medal.