Kirsty setting her sights on Commonwealths

The Shankbridge woman's meteoric rise has been rubber-stamped by a call-up for the Northern Ireland squad for the games in Delhi in October.

Queen's University student Kirsty fired her way onto the shooting radar earlier this year when she won gold and bronze medals at the Commonwealth Shooting Federation Championships in India – pre-cursor to the main Games.

“I was hopeful that I would get a call-up and now I'm really looking forward to the Games,” Kirsty told Times Sport.

In the months since that Commonwealth Championships success, Kirsty has improved her ranking to fifth in Great Britain, and has earned a place on the GB development squad.

Last month she competed in her first World Cup in England where she rubbed shoulders with the cream of the world's best shooters.

“You don't realise the difference in quality between competing in Northern Ireland and even England and something like the World Cup until you compete in it.

“I didn't shoot amazingly well but I was happy enough with my performance for my first time at that level.”

Kirsty is playing down her hopes of landing a medal in Delhi after her stunning performance in the Commonwealth Championships.

“A medal would be lovely but it will be about gaining experience of my first Commonwealth Games and hopefully I can get back to the next Games.

“It helps that's I've been to Delhi already this year but this time we'll be staying in the athletes' village and the atmosphere will be so much more intense,” added Kirsty, who is the only Ballymena resident selected for the NI team so far, although Ballymena Bowling Club members Jennifer Dowds (Cloughmills) and Donna McNally (Ballymoney) are in the panel.

Ballymena boxer Steven Donnelly faces a box-off in July before he knows whether or not he will be on the plane to India.