Dundee shooter Sian Bruce has returned home from the European Junior Championships in Kazan, Russia with the winner’s crown.

Aged just 16 Sian was one of the youngest competitors in the event, for Europe’s best under 20 year old skeet shooters.  But she beat off top competition from Denmark, France, Spain and Russia, winning by a margin of two points.  

  

“I thought I had a pretty good chance and when I started shooting it totally fell into place, it was just right on the day,” said Sian, who was four points ahead before the final and won the title after shooting 89 from 100.

“It's amazing and my biggest achievement by far.”  

Iain MacGregor, Scotland’s Discipline Performance Manager for shotgun, is the coach that has developed Sian’s talent at Auchterhouse Country Sports for the past two years. 

Supporting her since November 2008 is the Tayside & Fife Institute of Sport, part of sportscotland’s area institute network whose focus is on preparing Scotland’s best athletes to perform on the world stage by providing high performance expertise.

 

Working in tandem, TFIS physiotherapist Maggie Hendry and Strength & Conditioning coaches Alan Sinclair and Sean Tough, have created a programme that will make her fitter specifically for her sport and prevent injuries associated with the sport.

“Sian is immensely talented and the most natural shooter in the world,” said Iain.  “This magnificent achievement is a credit to the huge amount of work Sian has put in, and continues to put in, to her shooting.

“She deserves much credit for developing her natural talent, backed up by a strong team of advisers at the Tayside & Fife Institute of Sport. We have all been working together closely for some time now and have our eyes on an Olympic place for Sian in 2012.

“It is an honour and a privilege for me to be her shooting coach."

Sian, who has made meteoric progress through the sport and qualified for her first World Cup event earlier this summer, will now look forward to the Shotgun World Championships in early August.  She competed in last year’s event but 12 months on is a better competitor.

“I used to be really laid back but now I’m far more organised and I know what I'm doing,” she added.

“Iain is a great coach and the institute has helped me a lot.  I've been training more, shooting more during the week and going to bigger competitions. It has all helped me become a much better shooter and winning the European Championships has pushed my confidence much higher.”