16-year-old Manu Bhaker has taken the nation by a storm by clinching a gold medal for India at the Commonwealth Games 2018, Gold Coast Australia. Manu Bhaker won the accolade in Women's 10m Air Pistol Event by finishing with the score of 240.9.  With this, the medal India's total medal tally has moved to nine, which include 6 Gold, 2 Silver, and 1 Bronze medal, all in weightlifting and shooting combined.

2018 has been fruitful for the teenager as she registered a victory at the ISSF World Cup, in Guadalajara, Mexico in March. National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) president Raninder Singh was quick to praise the Indian shooters. He lauded Bhaker for displaying "excellent composure".

So what makes the 16-year-old so special? Here’s all you need to know about Manu.

  • Hailing from Jhajjar in Haryana, shooting was never Manu’s first choice of sport. In fact, she has tried her hands at boxing, skating, kabaddi, karate.

  • Manu was also a state-level skating champion and played tennis and also won medals in athletics in school meets.

  • The 16-year-old prodigy trains at the Universal Senior Secondary School in Jhajjar, Haryana and practices shooting for three to four hours.

  • Her biggest victory came in when she won against two-time World Cup winner Alejandra Zavala who trailed by 1.4 points and the latter happens to be Manu’s nearest rival.

  • She had broken Indian Olympian Heena Sidhu's long-standing national record when she won the 10m Air Pistol event at the 61st National Shooting Championship that was held in Thiruvananthapuram in the year 2017.

  • She claimed Gold in the 10m Air Pistol event for girls in the Khelo India School Games held earlier this year. She also broke two junior national records at the meet in New Delhi.

These achievements surely bring us to one conclusion that Manu is a great prospect for India. Her journey as a 16-year-old is quite inspiring and like her mother, India also pins hopes on the teenager who clinched a gold medal for the country. Kudos to you Manu!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 08, 2018 09:38 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).