Nur Banu Özpak (born 21 January 1996), also known as Nur Banu Balkancı after her marriage, is a Turkish

sport shooter Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airguns, in forms such ...

, who competes in the skeet event. She is the holder of two national records. She is also a coach.

Early years

Nur Banu Özpak learned sport shooting in 2001 with the support of her father. She has been a licensed member of the Karatay Belediyesi Sport Club in her hometown since 2008. She started her career in 2009, and began participating in competitions in 2010. Özpak was selected to the national skeet team in 2011. The -tall sportswoman's personal oach is Ahmet Balkancı, and she is coached in the national team by Duygu Tüzün. She serves also as a coach.

Sport career

In the Suhl, Germany leg of the 2016 ISSF Junior World Cup, she received the bronze medal in the team event, and in the Qabala, Azerbaijan leg, she took the bronze medal in the individual event, and the gold medal in the team event. She took the bronze medal in the Junior team event at the 2016 European Shotgun Championships in Lonato, Italy. She won the gold medal at the

2017 Islamic Solidarity Games The 4th Islamic Solidarity Games () was a multinational, multi-sport event that was held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from May 12 to 22, 2017. Previously, the event was held in Saudi Arabia in 2005 and Indonesia in 2013. The second event, originally sch ...

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

, Azerbaijan, and the bronze medal in the mixed team event. She won the bronze medal with her teammate Mustafa Serhat Şahin in the mixed team event at the

2021 Islamic Solidarity Games ‌The 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games () were the 5th edition of the event held from 9 to 18 August 2022 at Konya, Turkey under the aegis of Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation (ISSF). It was the first time in history that the event was organise ...

Konya Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...

, Turkey. In 2022, she took two silver medals, in the individual and the mixed team events, of the ISSF Grand Prix Shotgun Konya. She placed 4th in the individual event, and 8th in the mixed team event of the

2022 Mediterranean Games The 2022 Mediterranean Games (), officially known as the XIX Mediterranean Games and commonly known as Oran 2022, was an international multi-sport event held from 25 June to 6 July 2022 in Oran, Algeria. Oran was announced as the host city at th ...

Oran Oran () is a major coastal city located in the northwest of Algeria. It is considered the second most important city of Algeria, after the capital, Algiers, because of its population and commercial, industrial and cultural importance. It is w ...

, Algeria. She represented her country at the 10th leg of the

2023 ISSF World Cup The 2023 ISSF World Cup is the annual edition of the ISSF World Cup in the Olympic shooting events, governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation. Calendar The calendar for the 2023 ISSF World Cup include 12 stages. Rifle events ...

Almaty Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains ...

, Kazakhstan placing 8th. At the

2023 European Games The 3rd European Games (), also known as the 2023 European Games or Kraków-Małopolska 2023, was an international multi-sport event held from 21 June to 2 July 2023 in Kraków and Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Małopolska, Poland. It was the first ...

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

, Poland, she was not able to qualify for the finals. In September 2023, she won the gold medal at the Victory Cup in

Eskişehir Eskişehir ( , ; from 'old' and 'city') is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. The urban population of the city is 821 315 (Odunpazari + Tebebasi), with a metropolitan population of 921 630. The city is l ...

, Turkey. She set a new national record with 122 hits and another record with 54 points in the same competition.

Personal life

Nur Banu Özpak was born to Müjdat and Berrin Özpak, in Karatay district of

Konya Province Konya Province () is a province and metropolitan municipality in southwest Central Anatolia, Turkey. Its area is 40,838 km2, making it the largest province by area, and its population is 2,296,347 (2022). The provincial capital is the city ...

, Turkey on 21 January 1996. On 21 February 2022, she married to Ahmet Balkancı, and took her spouse's surname. She studied Physical Education at

Selçuk University Selçuk University () is a public university, state-owned higher educational institution which was founded 1975 in Konya, Turkey. It is one of the largest universities in Turkey with a student body of 63,000 of which 2,200 are foreign students f ...

in Konya.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozpak, Nur Banu 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from Konya Selçuk University alumni Turkish female sport shooters Skeet shooters Turkish sports coaches 21st-century Turkish sportswomen Competitors at the 2022 Mediterranean Games Medalists at the 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games Medalists at the 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games Islamic Solidarity Games bronze medalists for Turkey Islamic Solidarity Games gold medalists for Turkey Islamic Solidarity Games medalists in shooting Shooters at the 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games European Games competitors for Turkey ISSF rifle shooters