The Asian Games are underway in Japan, where Indian shooter Neeru Dhanda delivered a standout performance. She won gold in the individual trap event and also topped the mixed doubles category.
Dhanda added to her medal haul by helping India secure a silver in the women’s team event alongside Ashima, Ahlawat and Manisha Geer. The results marked a major milestone in her career and for India’s shooting contingent.
Behind the medals lies a story of hardship. The 26-year-old, who serves as a Subedar in the Army, comes from an economically modest family in Haryana’s Jind district. Her father is a farmer and the family depends on the public distribution system; her mother was reportedly buying wheat using a below-poverty-line ration card when Dhanda won her medal.
Training for shooting requires costly equipment and regular practice, but Dhanda did not have access to such resources early on. She practised using her father’s old farming gun and improvised with old tin cans, and her family took loans to begin her training, her father said.
She also faced a health scare shortly before the Games, spending three weeks in hospital and being unable to eat for five days. She could not fully attend the national camp and travelled to Japan just two days before the competition, making her gold-winning run all the more remarkable.
