Neeru Dhanda wrote a new chapter in Indian shooting, after the Haryana-born shooter became India's first woman to win an individual Asian Games gold in trap shooting. She also set an Asian record on herAsian Games debut in qualification, missing just two shots out of 30 to finish with 28.
The gold medal capped a memorable year for Neeru , who won her maiden ISSF World Cup gold in women's trap in Lonato, Italy, in July. She had also won the Asian Championship title earlier and is part of the Indian Army Marksmanship Unit as a Naib Subedar.
Earlier on Tuesday, Neeru had also won silver alongside Aashima Ahlawat and Manisha Keer in the women's trap team event. India finished with 328 points, behind gold medallists China (346), while Kuwait (325) took bronze.
Neeru Dhanda's journey to the top
But Neeru's journey towards Asian Games gold was not a bed full of roses. Neeru comes from a family, which is a Below Poverty Line (BPL) card holder. Although sports was on Dhanda bloodline, she got into shooting through wrestler Somveer, who is also her maternal aunt's son.
"She got into sports through wrestler Somveer. We did not even have a gun; she used someone else's. We had no idea she would reach this far. It is thanks to wrestler Somveer who supported and sent her. He is the son of her maternal aunt," Neeru's father Suresh told.
“My uncle (Somveer) took me to a pond and asked me to shoot a small sheet of tin. I also told myself, ‘Let’s see what I can do.’ I passed that test,” Neeru was quoted as saying to TOI. She was also inspired by her cousin Lakshay Sheoran, a silver winner in trap at the 2018 Asian Games.
A year later, Neeru had packed her bags and relocated to Bhopal to train at the Madhya Pradesh Shooting Academy. It was former national wrestling champion Somveer, who took Neeru to a pond and handed her an old country double-barrel gun.
How Neeru's gold reached her home?
Unlike other household, Neeru's family doesn't possess a single smartphone or a television. After she won a historic gold medal in Aichi-Nagoya, Neeru's mother Sudesh Devi received a call on her keypad mobile phone from an unknown number while walking towards the vilage PDS ration shop with a BPL card in hand in Haryana’s Sangatpura.
“Neeru gold jeeti hai, Asiad mein (Neeru has won gold, at Asiad),” said the stranger, according to a TOI report. Neeru had even put her marriage on hold because she wanted change her family's fortunes on priority.
“She had promised me that she would first build a good house for the family and start her own family only after fulfilling that promise. After today’s victory, it feels as if all our dreams have come true,” her mother said. Neeru, won a second gold medal at the Asian Games, when she and her partner Kynan Chenai won the Mixed Team Trap gold medal on Wednesday.
This was also India's first ever gold medal in Trap Mixed Team event at Asian Games. Earlier, the Indian trio of Aashima Ahlawat, Neeru and Manisha Keer had also won a silver in women's team trap event.
