The British team returned to Pilsen in the Czech Republic last week for the 10m Air Rifle & Pistol Grand Prix of Pilsen. 

In the Junior Women’s Air Rifle, Siân Corish, who had set a new Personal Best of 392 on her previous visit to the Bohemian city last November, raised the bar once more, recording a score of 393 on in both matches.  This score was equalled by Sheree Cox on her first international outing, both women qualifying for the final on day one, in sixth and seventh place respectively.

Siân proceeded to record a World Class final of 104.7 to leapfrog the remainder of the field to a win by a narrow 0.4 margin, beating Louise Minett’s 1995 British Junior Final record and setting new Welsh Junior and Senior records in the process.

Sheree’s final of 102.4 was second only to her GBR team mate, and took the young English shooter to within 0.1 of third place, also ahead of the 1995 record.  Sheree continued well, recording a score of 390 on day 2, as did Rebekah Pidgley.  Fellow junior James Huckle – a recent convert from Field Target – also performed well in his first international, with a Personal Best of 582 in the first match and a second day total of 580 close behind.

In the Senior Women’s Rifle, Louise Minett showed a welcome return to form, with 396 on day two qualifying for the final, while Helouise Manasco of Gibraltar marked her British team debut with a steady 392 on day 2.

Full results are available here - http://web.telecom.cz/shooting.plzen.