Kynan Chenai
Olympic Trap Shooter
Kynan Darius Chenai, born January 29, 1991, in Hyderabad, is India's premier trap shooter and an Olympic athlete who has brought unprecedented glory to Indian shotgun shooting. Born into a distinguished Parsi family, Kynan's father, Darius Chenai, was the 2008 National Shooting Champion in Trap Shooting and now runs a successful business. This familial legacy profoundly influenced Kynan's trajectory. Educated at Hebron School in Ooty, Tamil Nadu, where he studied German as his foreign language, Kynan was an exceptional all-around athlete, playing field hockey and football while serving as the school's freestyle swimming champion for three consecutive years.
At age 12 in 2003, Kynan began his shooting training under his father's watchful guidance, initially using a shotgun before transitioning to professional coaching under four-time Olympian Mansher Singh. His junior career was stellar: gold medals in the Junior Men's Trap event at the 50th and 51st National Shooting Championships (2007 and 2008), a silver medal at the 2008 Asian Clay Championship, and gold at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games held in Pune.
Kynan's Olympic dream materialized at the 2016 Rio Olympics after securing his quota at the Asian Olympic qualifiers. Though he didn't participate in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as India didn't field representatives in men's trap events, his perseverance paid off spectacularly at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou. There, Kynan achieved career-defining success: a bronze medal in the Men's Trap Individual event with an impressive score of 32/40, and India's first-ever gold medal in the men's trap team event alongside Zoravar Singh Sandhu and Prithviraj Tondaiman. This historic achievement contributed to India's record-breaking 22 medals in shooting at those Games.
Currently training alongside experienced shooters like Zoravar Singh Sandhu and Manavjit Singh Sandhu under Mansher Singh's mentorship, Kynan continues elevating Indian trap shooting on the global stage. His journey from a young boy inspired by his father's achievements to becoming an Asian Games medalist exemplifies dedication, resilience, and the pursuit of excellence in one of shooting's most challenging disciplines.
