Shooting at cousin's place, coach Mansher Singh's support: Trap shooter Neeru Dhanda speaks on historic Asian Games campaign, eyes LA2028 Olympics gold

Shooter Neeru Dhanda, who made history with two landmark trap shooting golds in the individual and mixed team event at Asian Games 2026, expressed the role of her coach Mansher Singh in her shooting career and looked back on her humble beginnings, which saw her start pursuing the sport at her cousin brother's place with his equipment.

Neeru's historic Asian Games campaign started taking shape on Tuesday when she became the first Indian woman to secure individual trap shooting gold at the continental showpiece, topping the eight-shooter field with a score of 26. She also set an Asian record on her Games debut in qualification, missing just two shots out of 30 to finish with 28. The shooter was also a top performer in her women's team trap silver alongside Aashima Ahlawat and Manisha Keer, scoring 118 out of 125. The next day came a landmark mixed trap team gold with Kynan Chenai, where the duo breached the Asian Games record of 30 held by Qatar to score 34 and get India's first-ever mixed team trap shooting event gold. Now with three medals included two standout golds, Neeru has arrived in Delhi as one of the brightest Indian stars.

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Neeru had earlier set the Asian stage on fire in the Asian Shooting Championships during August last year, getting golds in individual and team events. She is also a ISSF World Cup gold medalist, having won an individual gold in Italy back in July.

Speaking on her dominant performance, Neeru said, "I do not have words to express it. The feelings are on a very high level. Winning gold for the country is a matter of great pride for me, my family, the federation, SAI, and the Bhopal Shooting Academy. Everyone has contributed, including OGQ (Olympic Gold Quest).

She also highlighted the role of her coach Mansher as a motivator and also a care-taker, who has been with her since six years. Right from providing her with foreign exposure to encouraging her to prioritise her health just 10 days back, her coach has been with his pupil through thick and thin.

"The greatest contribution in my life has been from my coach, who has been with me at the grassroots level for six years and stood by me at every level. He provided foreign exposure and, even when I fell sick ten days ago, kept me motivated. He told me, "Asian Games come later, look after your health first," and kept me motivated after that too, fully preparing me for it. But we had trained well, and Mansher sir helped a lot," he said.

Reflecting on her humble beginnings, she said that she took the equipment from her cousin brother Lakshay and would practice shooting at his home. It kept going for eight to nine months before she gave a trial for Bhopal Shooting Academy from where her career started rising gradually.

"In the beginning, I did not have equipment. I used the equipment and gun of my cousin brother, Lakshya Sheoran. I stayed at his place for 8-9 months and learned shooting there. Then I gave trials for the Bhopal Shooting Academy, went there, and continued my career from there," she said.

On her future note, she said smiling, on a concluding nore, "LA 2028 Olympic gold".