Irish Target Shooting Squad travels to Athens

[Sparks]

Athens, April 18, 2004 -

With the ISSF Athens World Cup taking place in only two days, the Irish Squads for Olympic Shotgun and Olympic Rifle events are already en route to Greece to compete against the best target shooters in the world on the newly-built Olympic Range in Markopoulo. Intended as a shakedown event for the Olympic Range, this event is already causing contraversy in
the target shooting world because of the poor state of construction of the Athens range, as commented on already by the Austrailian shotgun shooters.

The squads representing Ireland are as follows:

10m Air Rifle:
Rhona Barry
Rhona represented Ireland at the Atlanta Olympic Games, has won the National Air Rifle Championships several times, and has won gold and silver medals in InterShoot and other international competitions.
Declan Kelly
One of the best male air rifle shooters in the country, Declan has also won the National Air Rifle Championships more than once, and has represented Ireland internationally for many years now.
Richard Stapleton
Richard is one of the up-and-coming new stars of Irish Target Shooting, having taken medals in the National Championships, the British Air Rifle Open Championships, and several international events on the Junior Squad.

50m Smallbore Rifle (Prone):
Alan Lewis
Alan represented Ireland at the Sydney Olympic Games, and has won the National 50m Prone Championships on many occasions. He has also represented Ireland internationally for many years.

50m Smallbore Rifle (Three-Position):
Ray Kane
Ray has taken medals in every 50m Three-Position match in the country for several years now, has been a finalist at the 300m three-position inter-services World Championships and founded the Irish Army's marksmanship team.

Olympic Trap:
David Malone
David is also a veteran of target shooting and most recently won the gold medal at the ISSF Cairo World Cup, beating the reigning Olympic Champions.
Derek Burnett
Derek Burnett will be representing Ireland at the Athens Olympics in August. In the recent ISSF World Championships, he placed third overall.
Philip Murphy
Phillip Murphy is also a veteran target shooter, and was a member of the Irish Team which won the 2002 ISSF World Championships
Tom Allen
Paddy Coyle
Sean McGeehan