20-year-old Ganemat Sekhon wins silver in ISSF Junior World Championship in Peru

Competing in what was her final junior worldwide occasion, Punjab shooter 20-year-old Ganemat Sekhon on Thursday gained the silver medal within the ladies’s skeet class within the ISSF Junior World Championships being held at Lima, Peru. Sekhon, a pupil of SD College Sector 32, who in 2018 grew to become the primary ever Indian ladies skeet shooter to win a medal in a junior ISSF World Cup, gained the bronze medal within the ISSF World Cup in Delhi earlier in March this 12 months, the primary Indian senior skeet shooter to realize the feat. She misplaced out to USA’s Alishia Layne 2-0 in a shoot-off for the gold medal after they had been each tied with 46 factors within the remaining.
“It was my last international tournament as a junior and I am glad to end my junior career with a medal in the world cup. The conditions were very challenging in the final as it became very windy here. But I am happy that I was able to perform well in such conditions. Getting used to the time difference was another challenge. But my training under coach Piero Genga helped me a lot”, shared Sekhon whereas speaking with The Indian Express.
Sekhon had taken curiosity in taking pictures in her childhood. She carries on her household’s legacy, together with her nice grandfather Captain Chattar Singh being a a number of royal taking pictures competitors champion within the 1940’s and her grandfather Mohinderpal Singh being a nationwide degree shooter. She began taking pictures in 2015 on the insistence of her father Amrinder Singh and claimed the silver medal in ladies’s skeet occasion in Senior National Shooting Championships in Pune. She delivered comparable performances within the 2017 nationals at Delhi and 2018 nationals at Jaipur. In 2018, Sekhon grew to become the primary Indian to win the bronze medal within the ISSF Junior World Championships at Sydney, Australia. In 2019, Sekhon gained the silver medal in Asian Shooting Championships at Doha earlier than she gained the historic bronze medal within the ISSF World Cup in Delhi in March this 12 months. Sekhon had additionally paired up with Angad Vir Bajwa to win gold within the blended skeet group competitors in Delhi.
“The bronze medal in the ISSF World Cup was a boost to my senior shooting career and gave me a lot of confidence to believe in myself while competing at the senior level. The time after the world cup was tough as I was not able to travel to Italy for my training. It meant that I could only take guidance from my coach Piero Genga over the phone. I had been training for the Kazakhstan World Cup before it was cancelled”, stated Sekhon.
The 20-year-old, whose household lately shifted from Zirakpur to Kansal, believes that the subsequent 12 months is necessary for her in her purpose to compete in 2024 Paris Olympics. “I have been working on my physical and mental fitness. Currently, the Indian skeet team is without a coach and we hope to get a coach soon. Training abroad will be crucial ahead of next year’s Asian Games and winning a medal there will boost my confidence to achieve the target of qualifying for 2024 Olympics and win a medal,” shared Sekhon.