How a call from Gagan Narang set Dronacharya awardee Neha Chavan on coaching path

A call from Olympic medalist Gagan Narang turned the trajectory of Neha Nandkumar Chavan's life in 2014. It set her on the path to a successful coaching career.

At 25, Neha had set aside her dream of competing as a shooter and taken up a corporate job. So when Gagan offered her a coaching opportunity at his Gun for Glory academy it was a surprise, which she accepted wholeheartedly.

More than a decade later, Neha now ranks among the leading coaches in India’s shooting landscape and recently conferred the Dronacharya Award by President Droupadi Murmu on Friday.

Hailing from Mumbai, Neha began her shooting journey at Shailendra Education Society, where shooting was part of the school curriculum.

She quickly developed a passion for it and continued doing shooting through college, winning medals at the university level in 2007-08.

In the years that followed, success at the senior level proved tougher as she struggled to secure a place in the Indian team and found herself at a crossroads, seriously considered quitting the sport.

“I was 25 at that time and had to make some serious decisions; I had completed my MBA and felt I should start a job. I gave interviews at a corporate company and soon landed one," told Neha to The Bridge.

”After six months, I received a call from Gagan, sir. We had all shot together, and he and the team wanted to start a grassroots-level programme in Gujarat," recalls Neha.

"I thought, instead of someone else going there to begin coaching, I wanted to explore the idea myself. That’s how I started in 2014."

Partnership with Dhanush Srikanth

Neha has worked with several world class shooters, including Elavenil Valarivan and Rudrankksh Patil. One of her students, Dhanush Srikanth, also received the Arjuna Award on Friday.

Dhanush is a deaf shooter who was born with a hearing impairment. He has won three Deaflympics titles and also remains a regular contender in the nationals of Olympic shooting.

“It was amazing to receive it alongside Dhanush, as we have been training together for a long time. He has been training since he was 14. That is the biggest achievement,” said Neha on the joy of sharing the award ceremony with her student.

The Telangana-born Dhanush joined Gun for Glory Academy at the age of 15 and has been training under Neha for nearly a decade.

“It is a big inspiration for him to win many more awards. This is a good start, and he feels proud about it," said Dhanush’s mother, Asha, about her son being named an Arjuna Awardee.

Dhanush began his career in the Olympic category during his junior years before later competing in the Deaflympics. The transition was challenging at first as he struggled with sign language and relied solely on his mother as his interpreter.

Over time, however, he has adapted well and now competes efficiently in both categories. His current goal is the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, a target his mother believes is very much achievable.

“He has grown tremendously as an individual,” Neha observed.

“He understands that it does not matter whether you are in the deaf category or the able-bodied category. If you love the sport and are sincere and hardworking, you can find your way.

“I feel his strength is his persistence. He keeps training consistently and always wants to better himself. He is never satisfied with average results," she added.

The sport is evolving

Shooting has been growing rapidly in India, and the rising competition on the domestic circuit has made it increasingly challenging for coaches to help their athletes stay free of negative thoughts.

“I keep telling my athletes that if they continue focusing on their technical aspects and follow their routine consistently every single day, the competition will come and go. They simply need to keep improving through regular practice,” Neha advised young shooters on handling the growing intensity of the sport.

Shooting is also a mentally demanding discipline. As a precision sport, a single poor shot can end a competition, which requires coaches to remain proactive and supportive in high-pressure situations.

“I feel coaching is definitely more challenging (than competing) because you take responsibility for other athletes. You are nurturing them, and their careers depend on you,” Neha said.

“It is a mental sport. You have to move on from one shot to the next and keep staying strong.”

LA Olympics is the next big target

The next two years present a fresh challenge for Indian shooters as they begin preparations for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics and a series of Olympic quota events.

Neha noted that the past couple of years served as a short-term focus, but the primary target now is the LA Olympics, where India will be aiming to improve on its medal tally from Paris.

“It will be different from next year. Our long-term goal has always been LA 2028. We now have the Nationals, and a few months later the World Cups,” said Neha.

“We want more medals, and we can achieve them because we have some really strong athletes who have been performing at a high level. We should definitely win a few more medals than we did in 2024,” she added.