Two days, three medals — two gold and a silver. For 26-year-old Haryanavi shooter Neeru Dhanda, the Asian Games in Japan have turned into a remarkable chapter in a shooting career that began relatively late.A day after winning silver in the women’s trap team event and gold in the individual trap event, Neeru added another gold today in the trap mixed team event with Kynan Chenai. The Indian pair scored 34 in the final after qualifying in fourth position, setting a new Asian record. Qatar’s Mohammed Al-Rumaihi and Ray Bassil won silver with a score of 32.For Neeru, the achievement is a story of grit and determination. Hailing from the small village of Sangatpura in Haryana’s Jind district, she took up shooting only at the age of 19 and with limited resources. Few would have expected her to emerge with three Asian Games medals within such a short span.Her decision to take up shooting was itself unconventional. In 2019, when she was 19, her relative Sombir Sheoran, whose son Lakshya Sheoran practises shooting in Jind town, suggested that she try the sport. She did — and it clicked.The Covid lockdown, unexpectedly, also gave her an opportunity to train more consistently. She could practise in relative isolation at Sombir Sheoran’s place in Jind town. With his encouragement and logistical support, and the backing of her family, she gradually made progress and was eventually selected by the Sports Authority of India (SAI).Coming from a lower-middle-class family that earns its livelihood by selling buffalo milk, Neeru had to overcome not only the demands of a costly sport but also the social expectations surrounding a young woman in her village.Marriage was one such expectation. When the subject came up in the family after she got a job, Neeru made her position clear: she would marry only after winning a medal at the Asian Games and the Olympics. “Marriage could wait, a medal could not,” she told her family.That determination has now delivered at the Asian Games. The Olympics remain her next ultimate goal.Last year brought another major relief for the family when Neeru was selected as a Naib Subedar in the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU). The job gave her financial stability.Neeru is the second of three siblings. Her elder sister is married and her younger brother is pursuing graduation. The family lives in a modest one-room house where buffaloes were once tied in the verandah. The unpainted walls of the house are now adorned with Neeru’s medals and mementoes.Her father, farmer Suresh Dhanda, was initially hesitant about allowing her to take up shooting because of the expenses involved. Her mother supported her decision.She encountered another hurdle when she came down with flu and was admitted to a Delhi hospital shortly before the Games, delaying her departure by four days. She eventually left for Japan on September 21 instead of September 18.