Set to make their debut at next month's Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Gold Coast (Australia), Inidan teenagers Manu Bhaker and Srihari Nataraj are two prodigious talents who emerged as champions from the Khelo India School Games, government's ambitious flagship programme.

While Manu shot her way to a gold in women's 10m Air Pistol with a score of 241.1 in the finals to rewrite her own final national record of 240.5 set at the National Shooting Championships in December last year, Srihari broke his own 100-meter backstroke national record while winning six gold and a silver medal at the Khelo India School Games.

Srihari said his participation in Khelo India was part of his training ahead of the CWG. "I was aiming for a 56.50 finish since I am preparing for the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires and the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast," Srihari had said after clocking 56.90 seconds in the 100m backstroke to improve on his own National record of 56.99 which he clocked in Tashkent last year.

It wasn't long before Srihari got addicted to the underwater moves and swimming turned into his passion. "It is a race against the clock and I want to do my best," says the 17-year-old Srihari. Manu, on the other hand, took to shooting just a little over two years ago and has consistently performed well in global and domestic tournaments. The 16-year-old won a double gold in her maiden senior World Cup in Mexico before bagging three gold medals at the ISSF junior World Cup to emerge as a medal contender for India at the CWG starting April 4. It's remarkable how quickly she has acquired a reputation of a formidable shooter.