Local clay target shooter Scott Brydon is now in the top ten disabled seated shooters in the world.
Scott competed in the first Para Trap World Cup in Italy earlier in the month and finished an impressive seventh overall.
He qualified for the World Cup after winning the Australian National Qualifying round.
The Australian squad included Scott and three standing competitors.
Scott said the conditions in Italy were challenging for the shooting competition, with overcast and rainy days proving difficult.
The competition format saw competitors shooting for a maximum possible 125 targets, split evenly into five rounds.
Scott competed strongly hitting 18 of the 25 targets in the first round and 19 of 25 in the second.
He was equal top scorer in the third round with 23/25, sharing the top position with Oreste Lai (Italy) and Neofytos Nikolaou (Cypress).
Scott’s 19/25 and 16/25 in the final two rounds gave him a total of 95/125, finishing just outside the finals by one place.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself and I just wanted to shoot like a normally do,” Scott told The Cobar Weekly.
He said the format saw him shooting in the early mornings for every round, which presented challenges in sighting the targets.
Iran’s Abdolreza Tavasolikhah took the gold medal for the event.
Scott told The Weekly it was an amazing experience.
“I really enjoyed the opening ceremony, they had a flag parade and dance concert featuring disabled dancers which was really impressive,” he said.
Scott is now aiming to qualify and attend world cup events in Dubai and France in 2018 and the world championships in Italy.
He said if he qualifies, he will also need the backing of Shooting Australia to attend as well as funds to cover the travel and event costs.
“I will aim for the top six each year and hope for the best,” Scott said.
Scott will compete in a Down The Line event against able-bodied shooters this weekend in the State Carnival at at Wagga Wagga and is aiming for selection in the state team.
He will also be competing in the ISSF Olympic Trap NSW State Carnival in the coming weeks.
