Nagoya, Sep 30 (IANS) In a sport in which a shooter stands alone with a target and has only a fraction of a second to react, Kynan Chenai believes the secret behind India's mixed team trap gold was knowing when not to interfere.

Kynan and Neeru Dhanda brought their individual routines together, fed off each other's energy, and fought back from fourth in qualification to win the inaugural Asian Games mixed-team trap title in Nagoya on Wednesday.

The Indian pair's victory over Qatar also set an Asian record and secured India a quota place for the mixed-team event at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, where the compound and mixed-team formats will make their Olympic debut.

For Kynan, the unusual nature of the event was precisely what made the partnership work. Although the objective was shared, he and Neeru approached the range as two individual shooters, each relying on a familiar process rather than attempting to manage the other's performance.

Asked what makes the duo work so well as a mixed-team pair, whether it was the technique, trust, or simply knowing when to leave the other person alone, Kynan, in an exclusive interaction with IANS, said, “I think the third part is the best version of what we are. Because Neeru has her own processes, I have mine. We have our own way of getting ready for the round. We have our own way of shooting. Very individual. Because at the end of the day, this is an individual sport. So, we are very separate individuals. When we come as a team, we basically feed off each other's energy to fight, and we never give up.”

That balance became particularly important in the final. The Indians had already fought their way into the medal round despite finishing fourth in qualification, leaving little room for unnecessary pressure or distraction once the gold-medal contest began.

Kynan chose silence over constant encouragement, allowing both shooters to remain locked into their respective routines.

"In the final, basically, I didn't want to speak too much because we were so focused on each other, what we were doing for ourselves, our process, our targets. It was very, very important to go through the process and try to break each target individually. So, I didn't want to really disturb her. After the 10th target, when we had a medal confirmed, then I gave her a bit of a fist bump, and then we both relaxed a bit and started hitting more targets, which allowed us to overtake the other teams, which was really nice,” he added.

The victory was also a significant personal response for Kynan, who had endured a difficult individual competition earlier in the Games. The mixed team event, making its Asian Games debut, allowed him to start afresh.

"So, this is the first time we have had this event in the Asian Games. And we came out with the gold medal, which means we have the Asian record also. And that's a big thing because we have the Asian record in the men's team from the last edition. And we have this now. So, it's a great thing. I mean, personally, I had a bad individual competition. And I had a fresh start today. So, I really put all my effort into trying to hit all the targets I could. And it's always nice when you come out on top,” the two-time gold medallist said.

The challenge for the pair was compounded by the contrasting circumstances they brought into the final. Neeru was competing less than 24 hours after winning individual trap gold in difficult weather conditions, while Kynan was trying to recover from the disappointment of his individual campaign.

Kynan was particularly impressed by how Neeru handled the physical and mental demands of another high-pressure competition.

"You know, after Neeru shot the final yesterday, in the horrible weather conditions. She was really tired today. And I was really impressed with the way she shot. With the way she went about it. You know, it wasn't easy for her to shoot. She was missing targets. And she wasn't used to missing targets. Because in the last three days of the tournament, she didn't miss very many. So, she was very mentally calm. And I was very impressed with how she handled the whole situation,” he stated.

For Kynan, the mixed team gold now adds another major achievement to a career that already includes men's team gold and individual bronze from the 2022 Asian Games.

But he also sees the medal as a reflection of the system supporting India's trap shooters, with coach Peter Wilson and the NRAI playing important roles behind the scenes.

"So, Peter has been helping the whole team out tremendously. His enthusiasm for the sport. You guys can all see it. His enthusiasm for winning. You guys can all see it. So, we feed off that. We feed off the enthusiasm for the sport he has, and the technical knowledge he brings. What he imparts to us, we use on the field of play.

“When, obviously, the results of his coaching come out in our medals. Then, obviously, he is very excited. Fairly so. Because I would be the same. And we are excited as shooters. He spends more time with us than our families do. So, he has done a brilliant job with the team, I think.

“And also, NRAI is the backbone of us. What you see here in front of you today is because of them. The work they do behind the scenes is why we can travel. The work they, everybody, all the administrators in the office, do helps us out there for the shooters.

“They help us reach the place. Get our rooms. We are comfortable here. They give us a support team. Physiotherapists, psychologists. So, it's just brilliant. The whole system,” Kylan expressed.

In a discipline built around individual precision, Kynan and Neeru found a way to make two separate processes work towards one result. Starting fourth, they finished first, and in the process wrote India's name into the record books in the first edition of the mixed team trap event at the Asian Games.

--IANS

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