Jr Shooting World Cup: Kanak upstages double Olympian to nail India's first gold

Suhl (Germany), May 21 (IANS) Kanak, yet another upcoming talent from Haryana, won India their first gold of the ongoing International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Junior World Cup in Suhl, Germany, shooting 239.0 in the 24-shot eight-women 10m air pistol final, to upstage Anna Dulce of Moldova, a two-time Olympian and reigning European Champion by a margin of 1.7 points. Chinese Taipei’s Chen Yen-Ching won bronze.

Earlier India had two shooters qualify for the junior women’s air pistol final with Prachi qualifying a spot behind Kanak in fifth as the two shot scores of 571 and 572 respectively.

Kanak, a junior world championship silver medalist in Lima last year, then showed her experience at this level, by bringing out the big 10s when it mattered most towards the closing stages of the final, to win in a canter in the end.

“I was a little bit nervous in the beginning but I am happy that I was able to close out well,” she said in the post-match interview.

In-fact it was Prachi who was always in the top three from the beginning of the final and looked more likely to medal, however the 15th single shot changed everything. It took Kanak to the lead with a soaring 10.5 and Prachi down to fighting for survival as she fired an 8.6.

As Prachi fell away, Kanak then shot three high 10s, one slim 10.1 and three high 9s (9.7,9.8,9.9) in her next nine shots to pull away from the field as the chasing pack struggled for any sort of consistency.

She closed with a 9.4 which will not please her coaches but by then the match was almost in the bag.

--IANS

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