From Hospital Bed To Asiad Gold, Neeru Dhanda Reflects On Historic Medal

From hospital bed to Asiad gold, Neeru Dhanda reflects on historic medal (Aichi: Asian Games 2026 - Women’s Trap Individual Final)

MP State Shooting Academy: Neeru Dhanda etched her name into the history books with a historic gold medal at the Asian Games, becoming the first Indian woman to win an individual trap gold medal at the continental showpiece.

While her success has become a watershed moment for the trap event in the country, not many know that she was hospitalised 10 days before the start of the Asian Games.

In an epic testament to grit and determination, Neeru, coming off health issues that led to she being admitted in hospital, grabbed the gold medal at an event where India hardly wins any medals at the Asiad. And all within 10 days.

The champion shooter, who also won the team silver event earlier in the day, reflected on her historic achievement, while detailing her battle with her health just before the start of the Games, but never felt she would miss the Asiad.

"No, it wasn't like I thought I would miss it (Asian Games), but my condition was quite bad. I didn't train during the whole camp and stayed in my room most of the time.

"For 5 days, I didn't even eat anything — I was just on water. Then after that, I spoke to my coach daily. Mansher Singh is my coach, and he has trained me right from the grassroots level. Even after coming here, I was talking to him on the phone every day. So every day he kept me motivated, saying, 'It's okay, even if you don't shoot for 4-5 days, it makes no difference. You are super, and you will remain a star,'" Neeru told reporters after her win.

Neeru and the other shooters had to fight with the continuous downpour at the Aichi Pref. General Shooting Gallery during the final, but she remained unfazed by the challenging conditions with a new Asian record of 28 hits out of the 30 possible targets, breaking the previous record of 24 by four more successful hits.

However, she overcame the recent health and rainy condition hurdles to clinch a historic gold. "Hurdles don't matter when you have complete commitment in your heart—that I have to win for my family, my country, the Indian Army, the MP State Shooting Academy, my federation, and SAI.

"So many people are standing behind me, and that gives me the motivation that when they are putting in so much hard work behind me, my job is very small in comparison: I just have to win, follow my process, and repeat it," she added.

Neeru is the cousin of 2018 trap silver medalist Lakshay Sheoran, and she was motivated for the sport on suggestions of Lakshay's parents. "Lakshay's mother and father motivated me. I was inspired by his medal back then. Before that, I didn't even know what shooting was," she said before detailing her family background.

"My father is a farmer. My mother is a housewife. My mother takes care of everything, and my father does too. Our financial situation is not good. MP State Shooting Academy has been supporting us. That's how I came here," she said.

Neeru won a gold in the Lonato del Garda World Cup 2026 and now an Asian Games gold. But she hints that the biggest medal is the Olympics, for which she is preparing. Both (World Cup and Asian Games gold) are equal for me. But you know which one is bigger. We are preparing for that. We will say when we win that. We are preparing for that step by step," she said.

"My father is a farmer. My mother is a housewife. My mother takes care of everything, and my father does too. Our financial situation is not good. MP State Shooting Academy has been supporting us. That's how I came here," she said.

Article Source: IANS