NAGOYA: While the archers were indomitable in Okazaki Sports Park, some 30km in the Toyota highlands at the Aichi Prefectural Shooting Gallery, two trap shooters were hitting orange projectiles to secure India another gold here at the Asian Games. The weather was much better on Wednesday and the two trap mixed team members — Kynan Chenai and Neeru Dhanda — were not missing much, literally.
Neeru was not as sharp as Kynan at the start but both complemented each other to score an Asian record of 34 above Qatar, who managed 32. Kynan's was an interesting conversation after the gold. One of the experienced members of the team, the 35-year-old was shooting with his father's barrel. The stock, of course, was the same. He had changed the gun he shot with at the previous edition of the Games, where he won a team gold. That change paid off as Kynan gunned down India's first-ever medal in the discipline along with Neeru.
Kynan spoke about the barrel in the mixed zone. "Last year, I switched to a flat rib, which ended up being my dad's barrel," he said.
"I had to steal his barrel, with his knowledge." Though old, the barrel worked well for him. "He won two national championships with that barrel and so I tried it. It turned out to be a lucky charm for me. My dad keeps saying that I have to give him back his barrel, but I don't think that it will happen."
Kynan and his father, Darius, share a deep bonding. In fact, it was his Kynan father — a champion of the sport at the national level — who introduced him to the sport. Whenever he needs advice, he doesn't have to look far. Even on Tuesday, he had a chat with his father. "We had a chat last night about my individual outing, which did not go so well," Kynan — who finished 16th in the individual event — revealed. "He was saying that he knows that I am putting in a lot of work, sometimes, it does not go your way. Today (Wednesday), I will have a different chat with him."
The medal is highly special for the Hyderabad-born shooter because he achieved the same with an Asian record. Neeru, the individual gold medallist in women's trap, had missed her first two shots and things did not look too good initially. Neeru was still recovering from her arduous match in the rain on Tuesday and Kynan acknowledged as much.
"I did not see it, I heard it. I was too busy doing what I was doing. I know she has been very tired, shooting yesterday (Tuesday) in the rain. She just needed to warm-up," the Olympian said. There was a tracker malfunctioning in between which Kynan utilised to relax himself a bit.
"I was chatting with Peter Wilson (coach) in the meantime," he said. "I needed to use the restroom but they did not allow me to. We were making jokes. I have a relaxed approach when breakdowns happen, I tend to chat with the coach. After 26 years, I need to relax."
Neeru is very particular with her routine but Kynan is not. He said that the coach has created a brilliant team atmosphere.
Neeru, meanwhile, was delighted to win her second gold. "We got so much confidence from these Asian Games, and also learnt about a few points that were missing in my process," she said.
Thanks to Kynan and Neeru, the shooting contingent's gold count rose to three in the ongoing Games. In total, the shooters have captured 15 medals.
