Marksman James hits target with gold medal

James, who owns the Carnhill Farm shooting complex near Glarryford, teamed up with Portadown’s Jeff McCready to land the men’s pairs title in the Olympic Trap discipline.

The event, held Southern Counties, Dorset, was affected by bad weather but James and Jeff remained focused to hit 181 targets out of a possible 200.

The event also forms part of the qualifying process for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

“Had the weather been better, the overall scoring would have been higher but we were delighted with the win,” James told Times Sport.

“I’ve won gold medals before in skeet but this would probably be my biggest achievement in Olympic Trap.

“I’ve only really competed in this discipline since around the time we officially opened the complex in 2007.

“Northern Ireland also own the pairs title in the men’s skeet discipline, so it was the first time that double had been achieved, as the competition is normally dominated by English competitors,” added James.