‘I’d run naked through the rain’: Neeru Dhanda’s coach and his wild promise after Asian Games gold

India shooting coach Peter Wilson is known for making unusual promises to take pressure off his shooters. But after Neeru Dhanda won women's trap gold at the Asian Games on Tuesday, the British coach had one promise he was happy not to keep, Reuters reported.

Wilson had joked that he would run naked in the rain if one of his shooters won a medal at the Games. When Dhanda clinched gold, the former Olympic champion celebrated by breaking his umbrella in the rain instead.

“I did joke that I'd run naked through the rain if we won a medal here,” Wilson said. “But maybe not.”


Also Read: Borrowed gun to Asian Games gold: How Neeru Dhanda battled H1N1, hardship & years of sacrifice to become India’s shooting star

The promise was meant to ease pressure rather than create another challenge for his shooters. Wilson has used similar jokes in the past to help a young group focus on competition rather than the weight of the occasion.

Dhanda's gold also adds to Wilson's work with India's shotgun shooters as the country builds towards the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Peter Wilson’s unusual promise to India’s shooters

Wilson is no stranger to unusual bets with his shooters.

At the 2025 World Championships in Athens, he promised to shave his head if an Indian shooter won a medal. Zoravar Singh Sandhu eventually won bronze, ending India's 20-year medal drought in the event.

Wilson kept his word.

“Going into the worlds I could feel the tension. It is a young group and I wanted to take their minds off the enormity of the situation,” Wilson said.

The idea came during a training camp in Cyprus before the team travelled to Greece.

“I was trying to break the ice. We were in a training camp in Cyprus and just before we left for Greece I joked, 'Anyone wins a medal, I'll shave my hair off'.”

Also Read: Neeru Dhanda wins India’s first individual gold in women’s trap shooting at Asian Games 2026

The shooters made sure there was no room for a partial shave. “They said, 'fully off' and I said, 'Yeah, fully off, bald'.”

Wilson then arrived at the shooting range in Greece to find a mobile barber waiting for him.

“Now, I've been doing this for 20 years as shooter or coach and for the first time in my life I arrived at the range in Greece and there was a mobile barber. They all thought it was God's work, a sign. Maybe it was. It was crazy.”

Neeru Dhanda’s Asian Games gold boosts India’s shooting campaign

Dhanda's victory adds another major result to Wilson's work with India's shotgun shooters.

The British coach was appointed as India looks to build towards the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. He said shotgun shooting had lost some ground to rifle and pistol events over the years.

“Since 2012, rifle and pistol have taken the limelight and shotgun has languished to a degree and I guess that's why I'm here, to try and change that,” Wilson said.

Dhanda's Asian Games gold gives India's shotgun programme another major medal as the team begins its next Olympic cycle.

Peter Wilson on India’s road to Olympic shooting medals

Wilson said India's Olympic ambitions need to be built through a sequence of performances, beginning with qualification.

“You have to work back. From Olympic golds, if you want to compete and win you have got to be top five or 10 in the world. But before that you need a quota place and without one of those Charlie and the Chocolate Factory golden tickets, you're not going to the Games.”

The next step, he said, is to perform strongly at World Cups. “But to win a quota place you need to be medalling at World Cups.”

(With inputs from Reuters)