By Callum Ludwig
Melbourne Gun Club Vice President and Lilydale resident Craig Henwood has continued his fine form in 2023, with a strong showing at both the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Men’s Trap Commonwealth and National Titles.
Craig picked up the gold medal in the Commonwealth title first before having to settle for bronze in the National title.
Craig said the events were the first qualification events for the World Championships which will take place later in the year.
“It was good to win the first one and get some points up on the board, I shot a qualifying score of 118 of 125 targets, which put me in second position and then I had a good semi-final and was in the medal match, and it came down to the last target up against James Willet, who was a representative of Australia at the last Olympics in Tokyo,” he said.
“I had missed my second last one and then he missed his last, so I knew I had to hit it, so I was a little nervous but still confident. I knew where the target was going to fly, because I had kept track of what targets I had left and I was just lucky enough that it broke when I pulled the trigger.”
Craig represented Australia in the ISSF 2022 World Cup Shotgun shooting competition in Lonato, Italy in 2022 and was also at the Beijing Olympics back in 2008.
Moving on to the National Title, Craig said he shot really consistently through qualifying.
“From five rounds I shot 24 out of 25 for a total score of 120, which was the second highest going into the finals, then I shot a really good semi-final of 24 out of 25 again which put me in good stead for the medal match,” he said.
“Unfortunately, it didn’t go to plan and I missed my last target in the medal match which relegated me to third. But I’m happy, I think I’m sitting in the second spot for the three-man World Championship team and the next event is on home ground here at the Melbourne Gun Club.”
Craig’s form in the last year marks his remarkable rise back into representing Australia, something he thought was far behind him until last year’s World Cup.
Craig said he just seems to be finding a bit more form again as he has gotten older.
“It just comes down to getting the job done now at titles and any events coming up and seeing if I get another possible chance,” he said.
“It had been really difficult to train with all the water damage last year at the Melbourne Gun Club, so I actually went to Yarrawonga over the Christmas break. It was really difficult not being able to train on the home range but I’m glad it’s back up and open again and it’s full steam ahead.”
