Neeru Dhanda: From Fearing a Shotgun to Asian Games Gold
Neeru Dhanda went from being frightened by her first shotgun experience to making history at the 2026 Asian Games, winning individual trap gold after a difficult journey from rural Haryana.
Neeru Dhanda’s journey to Asian Games gold began with an unlikely reaction to a shotgun: fear.
Growing up in Sangatpura, Haryana, Dhanda was fascinated by toy guns but panicked when she first handled a real shotgun as a child. Her path changed after watching her cousin Lakshay Sheoran win a medal at the 2018 Asian Games.
At 17, Dhanda moved to the Madhya Pradesh State Shooting Academy in Bhopal, leaving her family and adapting to a new life. Financial challenges made the expensive sport even harder, with support from Khelo India, SAI and other programmes helping her continue training.
Her persistence eventually paid off. Dhanda won Asian Championship gold in 2025 and became the first Indian woman to win an individual ISSF World Cup trap gold in 2026.
At the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, she shot 28 of 30 targets in the individual final to end India’s 48-year wait for an individual trap gold. She finished the Games with two gold medals and a silver.
Dhanda was also chosen as India’s flag-bearer at the closing ceremony, a moment she described as even more special than winning a medal.
At 26, she now has another target: becoming an Olympic champion. The little girl who once threw away a shotgun clearly found a rather different relationship with it.
