National Games champion Neeru Dhanda delivered a breakthrough performance on Saturday, reaching her first-ever ISSF World Cup final and finishing a remarkable fourth in the women’s trap event on the penultimate day of the fourth and final Shotgun World Cup of the season. Competing at the prestigious Trap Concaverde range in Lonato, Italy, Neeru shot 30 out of her first 35 targets in the 50-shot final. She secured the sixth and final qualifying spot by edging out Italy’s Alessia Iezzi—winner of last year’s New Delhi World Cup Final—in a 2-1 shoot-off after both had tied with scores of 115. Neeru was eventually eliminated from medal contention after tying with two seasoned shooters—Lada Denisova of the Neutral Athletes (AIN), a previous Nicosia World Cup stage winner, and Italy’s Silvana Maria Stanco, the Paris Olympics silver medallist. Due to having a higher bib number, Neeru narrowly missed out on the podium. Australia’s Laetisha Scanlan clinched the gold medal with an impressive 45 hits. Earlier in qualification, Neeru posted rounds of 25 and 24 on Saturday, adding to her overnight tally of 66 (21, 23, 22) to reach 115. Iezzi posted the same total, leading to the decisive shoot-off. India’s Preeti Rajak also showed strong form with rounds of 23 and 25, improving on her overnight score of 66 (20, 24, 22) to finish at 114—just one point short of the cut for the final, placing her eighth overall. Pragati Dubey finished further behind with a total of 100 (18, 18, 21, 19, 24). Zoravar Misses Final After Shoot-Off in Men’s Trap In the men’s trap event, veteran shooter Zoravar Singh Sandhu recorded a solid total of 121 (24, 25, 24, 24, 24). However, a five-way shoot-off ensued for the final two qualifying spots, which included at least two former Olympic champions. Zoravar was the first to be eliminated after missing his second shot. Teammates Lakshay Sheoran (24, 22, 24, 23, 23) and Jaswinder Singh (23, 24, 22, 23, 24) both ended with scores of 116 and did not contend for qualification. Trap Mixed Team Event Up Next India will wrap up its campaign on Sunday with two mixed trap pairs competing in the Olympic event, hoping to end the tournament on a high note. (with PTI inputs)