‘Look into her eyes’: Neeru Dhanda’s hospital scare, 2 Asian Games golds and the ‘fire’ seen by Mansher Singh

Neeru Dhanda (Image credit: PTI) NEW DELHI: Neeru Dhanda doesn’t need to be aggressive to show her competitive side. “Look into her eyes,” says Mansher Singh, her trainer for seven years.The 25-year-old shooter on Tuesday became the first Indian woman to win an individual Asian Games trap gold, after her World Cup triumph in Italy in July. For Mansher, who has followed Neeru’s development since she was 18, the performance was another expression of the quality he has seen throughout her career.“She has a lot of fire in her belly. If she is in the finals, she will be all guns blazing and that is what she has done,” Mansher told TimesofIndia.com in an exclusive interview.Neeru shot 28 in the final in Aichi-Nagoya, breaking the previous Asian record of 24. She had earlier won a silver medal in the women’s trap team event at the Games.The Asian Games gold came less than three months after Neeru became the first Indian woman to win an individual World Cup trap gold at the Shotgun World Cup in Italy. In Aichi-Nagoya, after an individual gold, she claimed a second gold in the mixed team events, adding to the silver she won in the women’s team trap event.“She’s not aggressive at all. If you want to see aggression, look in her eyes,” Mansher said.“I am proud and happy that she has what she deserves because she is very hardworking and very determined to succeed and more importantly to achieve. She has achieved things that have not happened in the past.”

“To win the World Cup and the Asian Games in the same year is incredible”

Mansher believes the back-to-back titles changed the conversation around his student.“So she wants to go to new heights and that’s exactly what she’s doing now. She’s won the last two majors. She’ll be the first Indian to do it, you know. So to win the World Cup and the Asian Games in the same year, almost back to back, is unbelievable,” he said.Neeru’s rise has also been accompanied by a change in the way she handles the pressure around her.

Neeru Dhanda and Mansher Singh

“She fought me a lot. Then I’d say, ‘I’m like your father.’ Then she said, ‘Yes, I cannot fight my father.’ Then she would go back to normal,” Mansher recalled.“But she was an emotional person. She’s much more mature now. She’s able to take her decisions and think about the consequences.”The coach was also closely involved when Neeru fell ill shortly before the Asian Games.She was admitted to PSRI Hospital in Chirag Delhi after the viral fever did not improve with medication. Even as he lay in a hospital bed, Mansher said, Neeru was focused on the competition in front of him.“Sir, lana medal hai desh ke liye. That’s all she was saying as she lay on the hospital bed. I was just happy and worried at the same time,” he recalled.Neeru was released and traveled to Japan without much time to recover.Mansher’s message to her before she left was simple.“You should be happy that God blessed you with the opportunity to go after being so sick in the hospital for eight days. Enjoy it and celebrate,” he told her.

“The Olympic medal is the first thing”

With the World Cup and Asian Games titles now secured in the same year, attention turns to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.India’s last Olympic medal in shotgun was won by Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, who won silver in the men’s double trap at Athens 2004. Since then, India has not won an Olympic medal in shotgun.Mansher, who has represented India in four Olympics – Los Angeles 1984, Atlanta 1996, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 – said the Olympic target has long been part of their talks.“I think we don’t have to worry about that. She’s very focused. She knows that’s her goal. She’s not going to take the gold medal at the World Cup and the Asian Games and get so big that she loses sight of her ultimate goal,” Mansher said.“And we’ve always talked about, you know, an Olympic medal is the first thing. The Olympics is the first thing and the last thing in this sport.”For Mansher, the two gold medals provided something more than just another set of titles.“But overall, there’s enough evidence to say you’re definitely in that league or in that conversation to be an Olympic medalist,” he said.