A young Angus sharp shooter is firing on all cylinders after winning a British championship.
Ryan Cooper, 16, a former Arbroath High pupil, was introduced to clay pigeon shooting at Auchterhouse Country Sports by his grandfather when he was aged 10.
He was picked by Scotland last year and since then, has enjoyed huge success, recently winning the British C Class Championship and finishing runner-up in the European C Class Championship.
Ryan said: “I only became more serious two years when we saw an article on the Scottish Clay Target Association website where they were offering coaching with a view to forming a Scottish junior team.
“I received several coaching sessions at the Scottish Clay Shooting Centre in Falkirk and was fortunate and privileged to be picked to shoot for Scotland last year.
“Since last year’s European Championship I have taken part in several selection shoots and the Scottish Championship, where I was fortunate to win several prizes and the Scottish C Class Championship.
“The Scottish team consists of myself and four other juniors from all over Scotland with one member even travelling from as far afield as the Isle of Harris to the British and European Championship in Wales.
“During this four-day event we all had to shoot each day against the other juniors and the competition was also open to competitors of all ages in our individual classes.
“Our team are all aged between 15 and 17 and were competing against the other teams who had older members up to the age of 21.
“The team, although relatively inexperienced, performed extremely well and were placed third out of all the British and Irish teams.
“On a personal level I was fortunate to win the British C Class Championship and be runner-up in the European C Class Championship.
“One of team members finished as the winner of the under sixteen category and I and another of the group finished fourth equal.”
Ryan has just left school and said he is looking forward to training and hopefully gaining an apprenticeship in engineering.
He still intends to continue to shoot on a regular basis and hopefully continue to be picked for Scotland.
Ryan’s grandfather Gordon Stewart said he was extremely proud of the teenager’s success story.
“Ryan has never looked back since first picking up a gun at the age of 10,” he said.
“His family are all extremely proud of his achievements and we look forward to what the future holds.”
Ryan has to travel across Scotland for selection shoots to qualify for next year’s team and is looking for sponsorship.
