Neeru Dhanda Wins Asian Games Trap Gold and Sets New Record

Neeru Dhanda won the Asian Games gold medal in women's trap on Tuesday at the Aichi General Shooting Range in Japan. She missed only two shots during the final and set a new Asian Games record, finishing ahead of China's Sun Yunong. The 26-year-old is a Naib Subedar in the Indian Army.

Family Support and Early Days

Neeru initially played kabaddi at the school and state level while growing up in Sangatpura village, where her father Suresh Dhanda owns two acres of farmland. After watching her cousin Lakshay Sheoran win the men's trap silver at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games, she decided to switch to shooting. Because her family could not afford a gun or training expenses, her cousin Lakshay and his father Somveer Sheoran stepped in to help. She stayed at their Faridabad home and trained with Lakshay's guns at the Karni Singh Shooting Range in Delhi, initially suffering shoulder and chin injuries from the recoil.

Training and Rise

Within a year of starting, Neeru joined the Madhya Pradesh Shooting Academy in Bhopal. She later began training under former Commonwealth Games champion Mansher Singh, who focused on her self-belief, pre-shot routine, breathing, and posture. She won the national title in 2025, bagged a mixed team bronze with Vivaan Kapoor at the ISSF World Cup in Almaty, and won the ISSF World Cup in Lonato in July to become the first Indian woman trap shooter to claim a World Cup title. In the Asian Games qualification round, she topped the field after a shoot-off against Qatar's Ray Bassil after both shot 118.

Overcoming Hardships

Before reaching this stage, Neeru faced serious health challenges. In April 2020, she contracted a severe bout of Covid-19 while returning to her village and had to be hospitalized. Her family struggled for a week until an intervention by MP Naveen Jindal helped shift her to another hospital where her condition improved. Just before leaving for Japan this September, she contracted dengue, spent a week in the hospital, and arrived at the Asian Games two days late.

Context

Trap shooting is a shotgun discipline where competitors aim at moving clay targets launched from a trap house. Success in the sport demands high mental resilience, physical endurance, and precise control over gun recoil and posture. Indian shooters have increasingly made their mark at international competitions like the Asian Games and ISSF World Cups in recent years.