Balancing exercises, fast-paced shooting behind Kanak's rise

IT was a tense battle among some of the brightest youngsters at the Shooting Center in Suhl, Germany on Wednesday. In the eight-woman final, India's Kanak Budhwar emerged the brightest as she captured the gold medal, handing India's first yellow metal in the ongoing ISSF Junior World Cup.

- Anmol Gurung @Chennai

After opening with 9.9, 9.4 and 9.5 (scores that's considered below-par), she retained her cool to stay in the hunt before going on to finish as topper with an aggregate score of 239 ahead of Olympian Anna Dulce, who garnered 237.3 in the junior women's 10m air pistol event. It's her first gold medal at this level and this is a step in the right direction for the 17-year-old from Haryana, who has lofty ambitions to be part of the 2028 Olympics.

This outcome certainly means a world to Sandeep Nehra, her coach. Kanak, who's from Sunaria Village in Rohtak district, has been training at the Abhinandan Shooting Academy (Rohtak) under Sandeep for some time. It was Kanak's father who introduced her to the sport and her family has been a massive support for her.