BAKU--She may by her own admission be very girly, have pink cartridges and be inherently clumsy, but teenager Amber Hill is a hot shot when it comes to skeet shooting and whose exploits have already garnered an award that the likes of Wayne Rooney have previously won.
The bubbly 17-year-old -- who when she is not shooting skeets (clay pigeons) for fun is training to be a beautician -- added the European Games title to the world crown she won aged just 15 in Peru, the same year she won the BBC Sports Young Personality of the year award.
Hill -- who showed extraordinary nerve to beat Italy's world number one Diana Bacosi in an epic sudden death shoot-out that saw her clinch it with her 30th shot -- has thanks to the gold in Baku claimed a place in Rio next year barring a selection shock.
"It is an amazing feeling," she told a smattering of journalists on Monday in the Athletes Village the morning after her win.
"Being the first European Games as well, it makes it even more special.
"It does not stop there, guaranteeing my place in Rio means this has been a phenomenal trip."
Hill, who hails from the south eastern town of Bracknell in Surrey, had shrugged off the searing heat -- temperatures reached 34 degrees celsius -- to beat her vastly more experienced opponent.
AFP
