Olympians dominate start of series

Skeet and Trap shooters gathered at East Yorkshire Clay Shooting Ground at the beginning of April for the first round of British Shooting’s Shotgun Series.

Despite challenging weather conditions, a score of 121/125 led the qualification boards in the men’s Trap, men’s Skeet and women’s Skeet events. Rod Gould and Luke Young claimed the men’s positions in Trap and Skeet respectively, while Amber Hill and Emily Hibbs both equalled the score to top the women’s Skeet board.

Kirsty Hegarty’s score of 117/125 saw her top the women’s Trap qualification board.

Kirsty continued to outperform her competitors in the final, where an impressive 47/50 saw her claim top spot and a British finals record. She was followed by Lucy Hall on 43/50, with Abbey Ling third on 32/50.

Kirsty’s Olympic partner, Matt CowardHolley, took the top prize in the men’s Trap final, with his 45/50 narrowly seeing off Nathan Hales’ 43/50 and Steve Scott’s 33/50.

Amber Hill was the third Olympian to top the podium at East Yorkshire. Her score of 55/60 dominated the women’s Skeet final to leave Alexandra Skeggs and Sophie Herrmann in second and third respectively.

Competition was tightest in the men’s Skeet final. Freddie Killander snatched it with a score of 55/60 over Ben Llewellin’s 54. Mitchell Brooker-Smith was third with 45.

Round two will take place on 24 and 25 July at Fauxdegla (OT) and Doveridge (OS).