{"id":30608,"date":"2026-09-30T09:42:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T09:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=30608"},"modified":"2026-09-30T09:42:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T09:42:09","slug":"neeru-dhanda-no-tv-no-smartphone-just-a-phone-call-how-neeru-dhandas-gold-reached-her-mother-asian-games-2026-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=30608","title":{"rendered":"Neeru Dhanda: No TV, no smartphone, just a phone call: How Neeru Dhanda\u2019s gold reached her mother | Asian Games 2026 News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-134578136,imgsize-116746,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/no-gun-of-her-own-to-asian-games-gold-trap-shooter-neeru-dhandas-inspirational-sporting-journey.jpg\" alt=\"No TV, no smartphone, just a phone call: How Neeru Dhanda\u2019s gold reached her mother\" title=\"Neeru Dhanda\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Nagoya\/Jind: Clutching her BPL card, Sudesh Devi was walking from her one-room house towards the village PDS ration shop in Haryana\u2019s Sangatpura on Tuesday morning when her battered keypad phone buzzed.<!-- --> It was an unknown number.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"3\"\/>\u201cNeeru gold jeeti hai, Asiad mein (Neeru has won gold, at Asiad),\u201d said the stranger.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"5\"\/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/sports\/asian-games\" rel=\"noopener\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\" target=\"_blank\">Asian Games Full Coverage<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/sports\/asian-games\/schedule\" rel=\"noopener\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\" target=\"_blank\">Schedule<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/sports\/asian-games\/medal-tally\" rel=\"noopener\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\" target=\"_blank\">Medal Tally<\/a><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"12\"\/>She stopped in her tracks. Fighting back the urge to jump for joy, she looked around for someone to verify the news.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"14\"\/>\u201cWe don\u2019t have a TV or smartphone. I hadn\u2019t been able to follow the news but knew last night that Neeru was to compete,\u201d she told TOI later.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"16\"\/>Devi, 48, collected the ration and hurried back home in a daze.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"20\"\/>\u201cI still couldn\u2019t believe she won gold,\u201d she said.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"22\"\/>In Nagoya, meanwhile, at a rain-swept, high-altitude shooting range, Neeru Dhanda was making a mother\u2019s dream come true, becoming the first Indian woman, and the first Indian since the late Randhir Singh in 1978, to win gold in individual trap.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"24\"\/>India had won seven shooting gold medals at the last edition in Hangzhou but has endured a difficult campaign here. Neeru provided the country\u2019s first gold in shooting at these Games, less than two weeks after she lay on a hospital bed, not even sure she would make the trip.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"27\"\/>Neeru had spent three days in a Bhopal hospital with suspected H1N1 flu while the national camp was under way in the city. On a liquid diet for five days, she could not get to the practice station for three-and-a-half weeks and arrived in Nagoya short of training, but not intent.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"29\"\/>On the eve of her gold-winning effort, you would not know she had been through all that.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"31\"\/>On Tuesday, rain landed on her hand and threatened to cause a disturbance. <!-- -->But Neeru stayed locked on to the target.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"35\"\/>\u201cAaj agar toofan bhi aa jaye, neeche nahi dekhna (Even if there is a storm, look it in the eye),\u201d she told herself.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"37\"\/>The storm never came close to derailing her.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"39\"\/>But it was such a different story just a fortnight ago, when she was riddled with doubt and frail with illness. It was her personal coach Mansher Singh, a three-time silver winner in team trap, who kept her going. On the eve of her event, national coach Peter Wilson gave her a simple message: \u201cGrind it out.\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"42\"\/>Grinding it out is something Neeru has done since she picked up a shotgun less than a decade ago.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"44\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h3>A journey that began by a pond<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p>Her journey started on the banks of a talaab (pond) close to their home.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"47\"\/>\u201cMy uncle took me to a pond and asked me to shoot a small sheet of tin. I also told myself, \u2018Let\u2019s see what I can do.\u2019 I passed that test,\u201d Neeru told TOI.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"49\"\/>Neeru was then inspired by her cousin Lakshay Sheoran, a silver winner in trap at the 2018 Asian Games.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"51\"\/>By 2019, she had packed her bags and moved to Bhopal because the Madhya Pradesh Shooting Academy offered free guns to its trainees. <!-- -->But before she could get her hands on one, she had to prove she could shoot.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"55\"\/>Uncle Somveer, Lakshay\u2019s father and a former national wrestling champion, handed her an old country double-barrel gun and took her to the pond. It was almost as if the family was indulging a petulant kid. Today, they would be so happy that they gave in to her demands.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"57\"\/>\u201cWe had neither the money nor the resources for this sport. Lakshay helped arrange everything. <!-- -->My daughter even practised with his rifle. His family is related to us. Today, after seeing what my daughter has achieved, my heart is filled with happiness,\u201d father Suresh said.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"61\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h3>A mother\u2019s unwavering faith<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p>Behind her achievement lies a story of extraordinary struggle, sacrifice and a mother\u2019s unwavering faith in her daughter. Poverty was just another battle on the way.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"64\"\/>Sudesh Devi took to selling buffalo milk to keep the shared dream alive.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"66\"\/>When TOI reached their one-room home, the proud mother was washing utensils. Eyes wide in wonder, she looked up and said, \u201cYou are telling me it is indeed gold? My Neeru has won gold?\u201d<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"68\"\/>And then she threw up her soap-streaked arms and let out a cheer.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"71\"\/>Soon, the stream of badhaais started. Villagers flocked in to celebrate \u2018Jind ki beti\u2019. Neeru\u2019s feat is all the more remarkable considering that Sangatpura lies in the heart of \u2018khap-land\u2019.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"73\"\/>Father Suresh Dhanda, 56, said the family struggled to support her sporting career but never gave up.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"76\"\/>Sudesh Devi said she never regretted having daughters.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"78\"\/>\u201cIf God had given me another daughter, I would have welcomed her too. Today, daughters are proving that they can be at the forefront of everything. <!-- -->In the toughest of times, Neeru would tell me, \u2018Ma, keep faith in me and ignore what the world says\u2019,\u201d she said.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"82\"\/>Neeru had decided to put marriage on hold because she wanted to first change her family\u2019s circumstances.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"84\"\/>\u201cShe 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\u2019s victory, it feels as if all our dreams have come true,\u201d she said.<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/sports\/asian-games-2026\/no-tv-no-smartphone-just-a-phone-call-how-neeru-dhandas-gold-reached-her-mother\/articleshow\/134578085.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nagoya\/Jind: Clutching her BPL card, Sudesh Devi was walking from her one-room house towards the village PDS ration shop in Haryana\u2019s Sangatpura on Tuesday morning when her battered keypad phone buzzed. It was an unknown number.\u201cNeeru gold jeeti hai, Asiad mein (Neeru has won gold, at Asiad),\u201d said the stranger.Asian Games Full Coverage | Schedule [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-31"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/no-gun-of-her-own-to-asian-games-gold-trap-shooter-neeru-dhandas-inspirational-sporting-journey.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/no-gun-of-her-own-to-asian-games-gold-trap-shooter-neeru-dhandas-inspirational-sporting-journey.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/no-gun-of-her-own-to-asian-games-gold-trap-shooter-neeru-dhandas-inspirational-sporting-journey.jpg","large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/no-gun-of-her-own-to-asian-games-gold-trap-shooter-neeru-dhandas-inspirational-sporting-journey.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/no-gun-of-her-own-to-asian-games-gold-trap-shooter-neeru-dhandas-inspirational-sporting-journey.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/no-gun-of-her-own-to-asian-games-gold-trap-shooter-neeru-dhandas-inspirational-sporting-journey.jpg","blogsy-small":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/no-gun-of-her-own-to-asian-games-gold-trap-shooter-neeru-dhandas-inspirational-sporting-journey.jpg","blogsy-small-tall":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/no-gun-of-her-own-to-asian-games-gold-trap-shooter-neeru-dhandas-inspirational-sporting-journey.jpg","blogsy-small-square":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/no-gun-of-her-own-to-asian-games-gold-trap-shooter-neeru-dhandas-inspirational-sporting-journey.jpg","blogsy-small-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/no-gun-of-her-own-to-asian-games-gold-trap-shooter-neeru-dhandas-inspirational-sporting-journey.jpg","blogsy-medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/no-gun-of-her-own-to-asian-games-gold-trap-shooter-neeru-dhandas-inspirational-sporting-journey.jpg","blogsy-medium-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/no-gun-of-her-own-to-asian-games-gold-trap-shooter-neeru-dhandas-inspirational-sporting-journey.jpg","blogsy-large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/no-gun-of-her-own-to-asian-games-gold-trap-shooter-neeru-dhandas-inspirational-sporting-journey.jpg","blogsy-wide":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/no-gun-of-her-own-to-asian-games-gold-trap-shooter-neeru-dhandas-inspirational-sporting-journey.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"Nagoya\/Jind: Clutching her BPL card, Sudesh Devi was walking from her one-room house towards the village PDS ration shop in Haryana\u2019s Sangatpura on Tuesday morning when her battered keypad phone buzzed. It was an unknown number.\u201cNeeru gold jeeti hai, Asiad mein (Neeru has won gold, at Asiad),\u201d said the stranger.Asian Games Full Coverage | Schedule [&hellip;]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":1,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":5,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/no-gun-of-her-own-to-asian-games-gold-trap-shooter-neeru-dhandas-inspirational-sporting-journey.jpg",400,225,false],"medium":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/no-gun-of-her-own-to-asian-games-gold-trap-shooter-neeru-dhandas-inspirational-sporting-journey.jpg",300,169,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/no-gun-of-her-own-to-asian-games-gold-trap-shooter-neeru-dhandas-inspirational-sporting-journey.jpg",150,84,false]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/author\/admin"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"<a href=\"#\" class=\"category-link category-link-31\">\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30608"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30608\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}