Charlotte Kerwood looks to strike it rich at Euros

FORMER Commonwealth champion Charlotte Kerwood believes she is in with a shout of a medal at July's European Championships in Croatia - even if she has to pay for the privilege herself.

RAISED STAKES: With a lack of funding, mistakes cost GB shooter Charlotte Kerwood more than most

Kerwood won gold in the double trap - not an Olympic discipline for women - at the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002 but now competes in the shotgun trap.

The 22-year-old finished tenth at the ISSF World Cup in Munich in May, narrowly missing out on qualification to the final, but insists she will be a genuine contender in Osijek.

"I'm certainly looking to make the final of the Europeans. It's a top-level championship so the competition will be high," she said.

"I'm shooting well at the moment so a medal is within my grasp and a realistic target.

"We also have the trials for the World Championships in a few weeks and I should make the team for that.

"I would like to make the final there and a top-ten finish would be great."

 Kerwood's pursuit dream will come entirely off her own back after shooting bore the brunt of UK Sport's funding cuts in January. 

Having received £5.06m in the run-up to Beijing, Britain's shooters failed to meet their target of two medals in China and have since seen funding slashed by 76 per cent to £1.2m for London 2012. 

British Shooting had been funding 46 athletes in the build up to Beijing, but that has now been cut to five - and Kerwood is not one of them.

"I'm paying for everything myself and it's very expensive," she added.

"There is pressure because when you go away and don't perform, it certainly hits home - but I'm shooting well so it shouldn't be a problem.

"I was lucky that when I was coming through the ranks I didn't have funding worries but now it's difficult for those coming into the set-up to find the money themselves.

"I can't really afford it myself but I will find the money from somewhere."