OCTOBER 16 - HARLOW shooter James Huckle (pictured) crowned a memorable debut for England by winning his third gold medal today in the men’s 10 metre 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.
 
Huckle said: “I was a bit shaky at the start and at the end 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, Huckle has only been shooting for two years and as made phenomenal progress.
 
He said: “The Commonwealth Youth Games has been a great experience for me on many levels.

 

"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.”
 
Huckle has impressed everyone in Pune with his seemingly unflappable temperament and admits that it is the key to his success.
 
He said: “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.
 
Huckle said: “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 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.

 

She said: “I shot what felt like 60 good shots in the preliminary stage 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.”

 

Away from the shooting range, Helena Thornton, a swimmer from Nottingham, set a Games record in winning the women’s 200m individual medley, taking the lead with an impressive breaststroke leg and powering home from the fast finishing Australian Kacay Pilgrim to win in 2min 18.43sec.
 
She said: “I am so happy to have won.

 

"The time is a lot faster than I had expected at this stage of my season.

 

" I knew the others would be strong at the end and I knew that I had to try and break them on the breaststroke leg and then hold on on the final freestyle leg.

 

"To compete at a Commonwealth Youth Games is just as good an experience as the European Youth Olympic Festival but to win an individual gold makes this extra special.”
 
Katy Venters from Huddersfield also set a Games record in winning the women’s 200m backstroke in a personal best time of 2:15.06.
 
She said: “It was amazing.

 

"That was the best race of my life.

 

"I felt very pressured before the final but when I knew I was in front I got a buzz and kept on pushing ahead.

 

"I wanted to win a medal but to get a PB [personal best] and take the gold in a Games record is amazing.”
 
There was further success for the England's swimming team, with Streatham student Louisa Farrer-Fisher adding a silver in the 100m freestyle to the silver she won in last night’s 200m freestyle and Natalie Durant from Richmond taking the bronze.

 

To round off the night both the men’s and women’s 4x200m freestyle relay teams won bronze in their respective finals.
 
On the track Shaunna Thompson completed a sprint double with consummate ease as she dominated the final of the women’s 200m in a Games record of 23.42.

 

The Manchester based athlete was understandably delighted with her second gold of the Games.
 
She said: “It felt good.

 

"I could have run faster but it’s the end of the season and I’ve won two gold medals so I don’t care.

 

"I’ve just got to keep working now to improve.

 

"I felt before the Games that I could win the 200m but never thought I’d get gold in the 100m so after I won the 100m I was confident I could do the double.

 

"If I’ve learnt one thing from these Games it’s that you’ve really got to focus because there are a lot of distractions and people cheering for other events that are going on at the same time.

 

"If you focus it will go alright but if you don’t focus enough it can all go wrong.”
 
Norwich student Rachel Stringer ran very close to her personal best in the women’s 800m to take the silver medal behind Mokgadi Caster Semanya of South Africa, who set a Games record, while Shaunagh Brown from Gillingham took bronze in the women’s discus.

 

Scotland also enjoyed a profitable day as Strathaven's Douglas Scott won his second consecutive gold medal on a day when the team won 10 medals in four sports.

 

The 16-year-old East Kilbride swimmer won the 100m breaststroke in 1:04.59 ahead of the Australian pair of Kenneth To and Liam Kennedy.

 

Scott said: "Its brilliant to win two golds in two days.

 

I felt my stroke was good and I felt fresh.

 

"I went out in the time that I normally go out in and I came back a little bit slower, but that's probably due to the heat and the excitement.

 

"But I'm really happy especially in the circumstances."

 

Following Scott on to the podium tonight were fellow- swimmers Robyn Matthews from Edinburgh, who had a personal best of 1:12.26 to claim silver in the 100m breaststroke.

 

Glenrothes' Daniel Scott doubled his Games medal tally with bronze in the 100m butterfly and Edinburgh's Ewan Johnston took bronze in the 200m individual medley.

Away from the pool it was the turn of two athletes with Commonwealth Games medal-winning parents to steal some of the limelight.

Falkirk shooter Jennifer McIntosh, daughter of Games medallist Shirley, won the silver medal in the 50m Rifle 3 Position behind Cox.

She said: "I've been shooting from a kneeling position for less than a year, so the fact that I got a silver medal is pretty impressive and I'm really pleased with myself."

On the running track, Lynsey Sharp, daughter of former Games medallist Cameron, won the 800m bronze behind Stringer, in a time of 2:06.77.

 

Sharp said: "If someone had said last year you'll be third here I'd have been so happy.

"I wanted a medal when I came here and Liz [McColgan], my coach, said I could win it.

 

"But I never really believed her until yesterday.

 

"Having won a medal here I feel far more confident about getting to the Commonwealth Games, maybe in Delhi 2010 and then 2014 in Glasgow.

"The Commonwealth Games feel so much more special than when we're competing for GB and it's far more of a team thing.

 

"Because of the history with my dad competing in the Commonwealths it feels so special."

The other bronze winners were boxers Sean Finney from Kirkcaldy, Robert McKee from Fauldhouse, Jonathan Slowey from Glasgow and Josh Taylor from Prestonpans.