Kanak beats European champion to win 10 metre air pistol gold at Junior World Cup

Incidentally, it was during a business trip to Thailand that her father Sudhir got hooked on shooting. He went to a pistol shooting club and liked the sport.

Soon his daughter had begun her quest to become a professional shooter. A year after she joined Nehra’s academy, Sudhir bought Kanak a new pistol that cost nearly Rs 2 lakhs. Kanak showed early promise by winning her first national medal, a silver in the 10m air pistol in the sub-youth category.

“When I practised shooting in Thailand, I shot some good scores and I believed my daughter would have the same instinct. So I took her to the academy. She used to shoot with an old pistol for a year before we got her a pistol. There were some people who felt that we were taking a risk, but me and my wife Pinki were certain that we will do whatever is required to make her a shooter. My brother Sandeep would drop and pick Kanak from her training sessions as the academy was eight kilometres away,” Sudhir said.

Kanak won two team medals at the Asian Junior Championships in Korea in 2023. Last year, she made it to the Indian team for World Cups and World Championships. The Haryana youngster won the silver medal in the 10m air pistol final in the Junior World Championships in Lima, Peru.

It was not all smooth sailing for Kanak because she had to overcome technical issues.

“In the initial years, her left shoulder would move towards the front when she shot. It meant that the pistol would jerk. In practice and training, her pistol would move to the left. It was not visible to me even though I stood behind her. Later we got the SCATT Training System to analyse and figure out what was the error. We found the problem of the pistol coming from the left side during her shots. We also had to work on her grip position because she had relatively small hands,” the coach said.

In the final on Wednesday, Kanak’s compatriot Prachi was placed second after the second series behind China’s Taotao Zhao with Kanak in third place. The elimination series saw Kanak progressing to the top of the leaderboard with Prachi falling behind to fifth spot.

National coach Sonia Rai believes the performance in the final will help Kanak in the future.

“Almost everybody shot below average in the qualification. But the way Kanak made her comeback in the final amid conditions not familiar to Indian shooters was impressive. The range here is quite different in terms of build and design elements in India. It speaks of her confidence levels,” Rai said.

Nehra believes the youngster needs to get over the pressure of trying to make it to the final off her mind. “She shot a bit slow towards the last stages of qualification. I guess thinking about the final impacted her shot timings. We will surely work on this as she normally shoots her shots within 12-14 seconds in qualification,” Nehra said.

Meanwhile, 15-year-old Chirag Sharma finished fourth in the men’s 10m air pistol event.