Ice cool Huckle on target again for Team England in India
16th October 2008Harlow shooter James Huckle crowned a memorable debut for Team England by winning his third gold medal today in the men’s 10m rifle competition at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India.
The 18-year-old, who had already won gold in the 50m rifle prone and 50m rifle 3 positions events, established a lead of five points in the preliminary stages and once again held his nerve throughout the final round of ten shots to finish on a score of 685.7 with Tianchong Wang from Singapore his closest competitor on 678.1.
“I was a bit shaky at the start and at the end,” said James, “but the middle was good. To win one gold was great but to win three is fantastic.”
A county level tennis player for Essex at the age of 14, James has only been shooting for two years and as made phenomenal progress.
“The Commonwealth Youth Games has been a great experience for me on many levels,” he said. “Visiting a country I’ve never been to, in a part of the world I’ve never been to - that’s an experience in itself quite apart from the shooting experience I’ve gained - and I feel as if I’ve really grown up.
“This is the biggest event I’ve ever been involved with and I’ve learnt that you have to rise to the occasion. You always hope that you can do everything well, cope with the pressure and shoot well but it’s always a bit of a shock when you achieve your expectations. You know you can do it but when you do it’s a great feeling.
“I sat down with my coach before the Games - we knew what kind of level the senior Commonwealth Games was and I’ve been shooting really well in training - and we set a target of three golds in Pune. It was a realistic target but at the same time I knew I’d have to shoot really well. After I won the first gold medal I knew it was achievable but I’ve had to work really hard to get there.”
James has impressed everyone in Pune with his seemingly unflappable temperament and admits that it is the key to his success.
“To get to the highest level you have to have an inbuilt mechanism to control your nerves and I try to stay calm and relaxed.”
The senior British champion in the 50m rifle 3 positions and the10m air rifle, he acknowledges that he has benefited from training regularly with the senior shooters in England and the UK.
“Luckily the GB pathway scheme I’m on leading up to 2012 involves the juniors and the seniors so we get to train with the seniors on a regular basis which is really good. They enjoy our company and I definitely enjoy theirs and a lot of their experience has hopefully rubbed off on me.
“Obviously my target is to win a place at the 2012 Olympics - that would be my dream come true. It doesn’t seem realistic at the moment but I’m improving every day so that is my ultimate goal. England support me as much as GB so hopefully I can pick up some medals in the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010 along the way.”
On a great day for the Team England shooting squad Sheree Cox from Sunbury-on-Thames also won gold in the women’s 50m rifle 3 positions event, taking a two point lead from the preliminary stages into the final and increasing her advantage to 5.4 at the end of the ten shots.
The 18-year-old, who won a bronze on Tuesday in the women’s 10m pistol event, was delighted with her performance.
“I shot what felt like 60 good shots in the preliminary stage,” she said, “and I would have liked a better score. But I felt that I was shooting well and although I was a bit nervous, when I shot a 10.6 on my first shot in the final that helped. I kept telling myself that I could do it and I’m just so happy.”