After winning Gold in Lonato, Italy a month earlier, my preparation had gone according to plan. I felt I had done everything possible to shoot to the best of my ability and have a great competition.
Shooting Australia selected me to represent Australia in Para Shotgun, competing at the World Championships held in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates running from 2nd -12th November 2022.
International travel has its challenges so it was a very long first day just to get there. Bus shuttle to and from the shooting venue allowed for some sightseeing along the route, but once on the range, a completely different landscape presented itself. Perfect, lush green grass, tall greenery with a backdrop of trees, very well presented.
Two days of free training one day of PET ( pre event training) allowed for final touches, acclimatization, practice of heat control, mindset, technical meeting and equipment control.
Two- day competition is exhausting to say the least, on the body and mind. It was tough mentally, shooting next to the European champion and medal winners in my squad.
I talked myself through every shot concentrating on my game. I finished 9th overall and didn’t make the final. Disappointed… yes… but I had experienced shooting at the top level amongst the best wheelchair athletes in the world today.
A huge thanks to Cat Berry (Shooting Australia) Kathryn Periac (Shooting Australia) Roz, my partner, who’s combined help and efforts got me through. Northam Gun Club for Wednesday arvo sessions, WACTA for continuing support, Alan Chitty for providing shot reloading essentials as I’ve been going through quite a bit of ammo on my range at home, Carlos (WAGC) for the huge amount of lead shot for reloading.
The plan has been tweaked and has already commenced for Nationals & Commonwealth in January and further into next year for another International season.
