Eight years after cousin Lakshay’s Asian Games silver, Neeru Dhanda strikes gold

A Naib Subedar of the Indian Army, she missed only two shots on her way to gold and set a new Asian Games record in the final, pipping Sun Yunong of China.

Even as the 26-year-old scripted history at the Aichi General Shooting Range, her mother Sudesh Dhanda remembered how Neeru’s journey began. “My husband (Suresh Dhanda) owns two acres of farmland and some livestock. Neeru is the second eldest of three siblings and would play kabaddi at the school and state level. When Lakshay won the silver medal, she told us that she too wants to try her hand in shooting. But we could not afford a gun or the training expenses,” Sudesh told The Indian Express.

Sudesh’s cousin Somveer and his son Lakshay eventually supported Neeru’s dream. She stayed at their Faridabad home while practising at the Karni Singh Range. She suffered injuries on her shoulder and chin due to recoil initially, but was never deterred.

“This medal is all due to her hard work and chasing the dream. Chhori ne bata diya sapno ko kaise pura karna hai (The girl has shown how to pursue your dreams),” Sudesh said.

Shooting cans

Somveer recalled how Neeru shot tin cans at his farmhouse in Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh in her initial days. “She would never be deterred by the heavy shotgun,” said Somveer, who now runs a motorbike showroom in Jind.

Within a year of training, Neeru entered the trials for the Madhya Pradesh Shooting Academy in Bhopal and was later selected there. State and national-level medals followed, leading to her initiation in the Indian senior team.

Neeru finished 13th in her first ISSF World Cup in Changwon, Korea in 2022, before a 29th-place finish in the World Championships in Osijek, Croatia the same year. Meanwhile, she began training under former Commonwealth Games champion and Asiad medallist Mansher Singh in Bhopal.

“Initially Neeru had some difficulty with the gun recoil. But as she shot more, she learnt how to balance her body and posture,” Lakshay told this paper.

“She had a well-built physique and muscle strength, and we worked on her balance of the gun and the hold positioning of the swing. To see her win the medal and to see another medal coming in the family is a special feeling for all of us,” he added.

Neeru Dhanda (C) clinched the gold medal in women’s trap event at the ISSF Lonato World Cup. (Credits: ISSF)

Neeru won the national title in 2025, edging out Kirti Gupta and Pragati Dubey in the final. Earlier this year, she paired up with Vivaan Kapoor to bag the mixed team bronze medal at the ISSF World Cup in Almaty. She then won the ISSF World Cup in Lonato in July, becoming the first Indian woman shooter to claim a World Cup title in trap.

On Tuesday, Neeru topped the women’s individual trap qualification after a shoot-off against Qatar’s Ray Bassil — both had shot 118 in qualifying.

Coach Mansher described the work that went on behind the scenes. “The most important thing was to instil self-belief and how to be consistent. And that comes through training for the basics and the aim to become technically good,” he said.

Mansher went on, “We worked on the pre-shot routine and visualisation, along with breathing patterns. We got her gun stock changed two years ago and since 2024, Neeru has been shooting very well. The mixed team bronze and individual gold in the World Cups this year boosted her confidence.”

Hard times

Neeru has had to overcome multiple health issues before achieving these feats. In April 2020, while returning to her village home from the academy, she suffered a severe bout of Covid-19. The then 20-year-old had to be hospitalised. “Due to the Covid-19 protocol in the hospital, we did not know how she was for more than a week. Later, we learnt that her condition was not good. After some calls to officials, we got her shifted to another hospital and her condition improved. That speaks of the hardships she had to face and the mental resilience,” Mansher said.

Sudesh too remembered the hard time: “It was a tough phase and for one week the family struggled before an intervention by MP Naveen Jindal meant she was shifted to another hospital and her life could be saved,” she said.

Before leaving for Japan this September, Neeru was suspected of H1N1 illness and was hospitalised for a week. It meant that she left for the Asian Games two days late. “She told us not to worry and that she would return with a medal. She has kept her word,” her proud mother said.