Collyer's duo compete for Britain under-19s in South Africa

Horsham shooting stars Jonathan Brooking and Tom Johnston have returned from international action where they helped Great Britain under-19s beat South Africa.
Horsham Rifle and Pistol Club stars Jonathan Brooking and Tom Johnston with their medals won for Great Britain under-19s against South Africa. SUS-160516-135158002Horsham Rifle and Pistol Club stars Jonathan Brooking and Tom Johnston with their medals won for Great Britain under-19s against South Africa. SUS-160516-135158002
Horsham Rifle and Pistol Club stars Jonathan Brooking and Tom Johnston with their medals won for Great Britain under-19s against South Africa. SUS-160516-135158002

Competing in Bloemfontein, the 18-year-olds competed in various full bore target rifle team matches at distances from 300 to 800 metres.

They were successful in winning both the team matches by a sizeable margin.

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Brooking was also very successful in gaining three other individual medals at 300, 500 and 600 metres in the South African general public competition.

He also qualified for the final where only a small fraction of the entries got in.

To underline his success, Brooking was the topscoring under-19 competitor for the individual match aggregates.

Brooking greatly enjoyed the whole experience and was able to combine competing for Britain with some sight-seeing.

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He said: “Whilst having to concentrate on getting the results, before the shooting started we also had the opportunity to acclimatize and take part in team building exercises.

“We also had the opportunity to visit cultural villages and the Kruger National Park where we saw all of the big five animals on safari.”

He also was the top scoring under-19 competitor for the individual match aggregates.

Brooking and Johnston are members of Horsham Rifle and Pistol Club which is based opposite the Queen’s Head pub in Queen Street.

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Horsham club chairman John De Lang said: “We are very proud of both Jon and Tom. Jon has shot here since he was first old enough to hold a rifle aged 13.

“The club has a history of producing world class shooters such as the former England captain Ian Cummings.”

This was the second time the pair had competed in South Africa, having previously gone in 2013 when Johnston’s dad Colin captained Ireland in international matches.

On that occasion Jonathan and his father, Tim Brooking, travelled alongside the Irish rifle team and shot in general competition.

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Both Tom and Jonathan are currently Collyer’s students and have been shooting for five years.

In 2015, Tom also travelled to Canada to represent and shoot for the British Cadet Rifle team (The Athelings) for a month.

Currently they are preparing for the world’s largest annual target rifle shooting competition at the mecca of the sport in Bisley, Surrey where thousands of competitors come together from around the world.

Their sights are set for the future to get into the Great Britain under-25s team and they will be looking for sponsorship to help finance them.

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Brooking revealed: “I was grateful for the funding I received for the South Africa trip from South London Rifle Club, Horsham Rifle and Pistol Club and Rob Bennett.”

To sponsor either of them contact Jon on 07508547000 or email [email protected] or Tom on 07720763274 or email [email protected]

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