Nagoya, September 29, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Indian trap-shooting coach Peter Wilson has lauded Neeru Dhanda for her remarkable composure in winning the women’s trap individual gold at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya on Tuesday, despite illness before the competition and challenging weather conditions during the final.
Dhanda, who topped the qualification round, delivered 28 hits in the final to secure a historic gold for India. The achievement was particularly significant, according to Wilson, as the 26-year-old shooter had been seriously ill less than two weeks before the Games and had been unable to train during the build-up.
“It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster, I’ve got to admit. Considering Neeru was very poorly only 10 days, 12 days ago, and it was looking like she might not even be able to make the Asian Games. She didn’t do any training in the build-up. And so to be here now, having her lead from the very front, it’s been an attritional three days, long three days. And then to shoot 28 out of 30 in the way she did, I couldn’t be happier for her,” Wilson told reporters after her victory.
Wilson, a British Olympic champion who won double trap gold at the London 2012 Olympics, said persistent rain and fading light made the final particularly demanding, requiring shooters to maintain intense concentration.
“The conditions were really tricky. You know, it just rained all day. And now we’re very lucky, it stopped raining, but it’s getting dark. So not only was it raining, the light was dim. And that again makes it more tricky. So you struggle to get a good connection with the gun. And then, of course, as you’re looking down the rib, the rain’s bouncing off it. You’re getting wet, the rain’s running down the back of your neck. It’s really very, very difficult,” he said.
The pressure mounted as the final progressed, with competitors being eliminated in stages. Dhanda also faced an additional challenge after receiving a yellow card for taking too long over a shot. Wilson said he contested the decision, believing the timer had been started prematurely.
“And all the while, people are getting bibbed out, knocked out. You’re going in blocks of 10, then 5 and 5 and 5. And in that moment, she was needing one more target to win gold. And then she got given a yellow card for taking too much time, which I felt was really unfair because they’d started the timer too early. I objected with the jury, they resettled. Neeru was incredible. She was more composed than anybody. And she settles herself and shoots it,” Wilson said.
Despite Dhanda’s top position in qualification, Wilson said the focus before the final was on keeping her grounded and encouraging her to concentrate on each target rather than the significance of the occasion.
“Just grind them down and work one target at a time. It’s really very simple. Hard to do, easy to say. Of course, there is other stuff that’s going on in one’s mind, but you have to try and catch that, bring it back to this moment. Be present and just one target at a time,” he said.
The Indian team will now turn its attention to the mixed team event before beginning preparations for the World Championships in Doha.
“So now we’ve got a mixed team tomorrow, so we dust ourselves down this evening and go hard for tomorrow. Back home then to India. And I’m hoping these guys are going to have a couple of weeks off, maybe a touch longer, just to decompress. This has been an amazing competition for us, for Neeru especially, in Olympic trap. And of course, I want the best for her and for the rest of the team going into the World Championships. So depending on how the next few weeks go, and I’m hoping that, as I said, she can decompress from this incredible, this enormous feat, then we’ll go hard for Doha, for the World Champs,” Wilson said.
Dhanda’s Asian Games triumph marks another milestone in a breakthrough year for the shooter. Her performance also highlighted her ability to remain composed under pressure despite a disrupted training schedule and difficult conditions.
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