Team Scotland’s shooters were on target with a silver and bronze medal on day three of action at the Belmont Shooting Centre in Brisbane.
Neil Stirton, competing in his fourth Commonwealth Games, made the final in the Men’s 50m Rifle Prone alongside fellow Scot, Lenny Thomson with the pair qualifying fourth and fifth respectively.
In the final, Neil shot strongly to finish with a silver medal on 247.7; with Wales’ David Phelps taking gold with a Games Record 248.8. Lenny; competing in his first Games finished eighth.
Commenting on his performance Neil said: “This is my fourth Commonwealth Games. It’s great to still be doing it at 37. I’m absolutely over the moon to come out here and be competitive with the best in the world.
“I’ve known these guys for nearly 20 years and it’s great to have friends on both sides of the podium. I had a few loose shots in the middle and I think that cost me the gold, but I’m happy with the performance.”
Earlier in the day, Ian Shaw and Sandy Walker competed in Day Two of the Queen’s Prize Pairs. The two full-bore shooters were sitting in fourth after the first day of action; climbing into the medal positions with a score of 582-49v.
Ian, who already has a silver and bronze medal in the event from Delhi 2010 and Glasgow 2014 respectively said of their performance: “It’s hard to put into words how I’m feeling right now. We’ve put in a lot of hard work over the last four years so it’s a fantastic achievement. It still hasn’t sunk in quite yet!
“A lot of our success is down to the Lottery funding we’ve received from sportscotland – I don’t think we’d have done quite as well as we have if it wasn’t for their support.”
Sandy added: “I’m ecstatic! We knew we were in with a chance but getting to the bronze medal position was amazing. I’m so pleased to have got a medal at my first ever Games.
“Having Ian there and learning from his experience has been massively helpful. He’s at his sixth Games so has kept me on the right track and I definitely think that’s played a huge role in our success.”
Jess Liddon was also in action today in the Women’s 25m Pistol competition. She was sitting in third after the Precision qualification event but finished in 10th after the Rapid qualification to miss out on a place in the final.
Ian and Sandy are both back in action tomorrow in the Queen’s Prize Individual Day One from 10:00hrs (01:00hrs UK time). On the Shotgun range, Calum Fraser and David McMath compete in the Men’s Double Trap from 09:00hrs (00:00hrs UK time), while the women’s Double Trap Final will see Linda Pearson shoot at 10:30hrs (01:30hrs UK time).