Kynan Chenai’s father Darius was a close friend of 1978 Asian Games trap gold medallist Randhir Singh, and one of their favourite subjects of conversation used to be guns. Darius is a former national trap champion himself, and the bond of friendship solidified further recently when Kynan, who began shotgun shooting in 2003, married Randhir Singh’s daughter Ria Rajeshwari Kumari, who also practises the sport.

Randhir passed away earlier this year and Darius feels he would have been delighted when Kynan and women’s individual winner Neeru Dhanda combined to clinch the trap mixed team gold medal at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Wednesday. 


“I knew Randhir Singh ji through our common friends in shooting for the last two decades or more. The only advice he would give Kynan was to keep it simple and go back to the basics when things went wrong. That’s what Kynan did today,” Darius told .

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Neeru was competing in her maiden Asian Games, while Kynan had tasted success at Hangzhou in 2023 when he won the team gold and individual bronze.

Kynan had started after watching his father in Hyderabad, and had even competed against him at the 2007 Nationals in Jaipur. He was part of the Rio Olympics squad, where he finished 19th.

“I started shooting competitively in my 30s on the insistence of my friends Manavjit Singh Sandhu and Mansher Singh. While Kynan studied at a boarding school, he would accompany me to the shooting range during our vacations abroad. And when he showed an interest in shooting, I got him to train under Mansher,” shares the father.

On Wednesday, the Indian pair shot a total of 136 to qualify fourth for the four-team final. They were placed fourth with six points after the first 10 shots, but eventually set an Asian Games record of 34 to win the gold medal, edging out China.

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Out of his 20 shots, Kynan missed only his first. Neeru missed three of her first five shots before she recovered to shoot two perfect series. She would miss two shots in the last series but they had already done enough to win the gold.

“Kynan was a bit disappointed after he missed the individual final. And with Neeru struggling initially, he made sure that the team made a comeback. Neeru showed with her recovery why she is one of the best shooters. Training under 2008 Olympic champion David Kostelecky of the Czech Republic has made him a better shooter. India’s foreign coach Peter Wilson too has been working on Kynan’s technique and gun stock adjustments,” says Darius.

With the trap mixed team event part of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, the gold assumes added significance.

“Getting the Olympic quota is the next target but such performances do help,” says Mansher, now India’s High-Performance Manager (Shotgun).