Martin’s a new world champion for Pembrokeshire
When Martin Myers returned from Cape Town recently he had two extra items of luggage with him - and they were the gold medals that marked him as Pembrokeshire Sport's latest world champion.
Because Martin had just won the individual gold medal in the 'English World Sporting' category of clay target shooting under the auspices of the ICTSF (the International Clay Target Shooting Federation) - and doubled up by helping the English national team to sit atop the podium to complete a golden double!
Memorable week in Cape Town
It completed a memorable week for Martin, who lives in Letterston and fended off the strong challenge of 150 other top guns from all over the world as reward for his almost total commitment to his sport for almost three decades since his father Dai first took him out rough shooting and got him to appreciate the joys of the natural world alongside respect for the responsibility of having a gun under his arm!
He travelled to Cape Town as part of the five-man English team and their eight-day trip saw them staying in a golf club resort and after two days of acclimatisation there was a similar amount of time spent in practice.
"To be honest the first day's practice was only just about average," admitted Martin, "but things got better 24 hours' later as I managed fourth place in a practice competition we could enter, and I felt my confidence growing.
Tense times on two days of championships
"When we got down to the first day of the World Championship everyone had to shoot 100 clays and at the end of a long day I was one of a chasing pack of about ten others who were just a shot behind the leader - and we were already ahead in the team event.
"On the second day my starting time was 8.30am, with the final group due out three hours later, but I was happy with an early start because I feel less pressure then.
"After a slightly shaky start where I missed a couple of clays I got into my stride and was delighted with a final second-round tally of 96 out of a 100 clays.
Long wait proves worthwhile – and Martin finally phones home!
"Then all I could do was sit back with a coffee and wait and watch my main rivals fall by the way side, one by one, so in the final analysis I ended up as World Champion by four clays - and then came the announcement that we were also team champions as a golden bonus!"
It was only then that Martin phoned home to give wife Ruth and teenage daughter Hannah about his success.
"They have been brilliant in supporting me throughout my clay target shooting," Martin told us, “as have been my parents Dai and Eileen, who still live nearby in Little Newcastle, and I didn't want to raise their hopes too much before I had already won the competition."
Long time from quiet start
It all seems a long time since he first started out with Dai in rough and game shooting, and Martin appreciated the countryside so much he started out in work as a gamekeeper in Kent and then back in this county.
"When I gave up that line of work I decided I would like to continue with my gun and so I bega
n shooting clay targets more seriously - and I started attending game fairs at places like Scolton Manor and Dennant Mill, as well
as getting lots of practice at the old County Sports Ground at the bottom of Arnold's Hill."
Self-taught – and competitive by instinct
Martin had his first gun, a straightforward single-barrelled .410 for a while, but now uses a 12-bore over and under gun supplied by sponsors Krieghoff, the German gun-maker, which he has shot for ten years.
Amazingly, Martin has never had a lesson and so has been self-taught, but always ready to w
atch others shooting and being ready to ask questions - and it certainly worked because he gradually started to win prizes.
Welsh and English honours
By the time he was 22 he had started going to Welsh selection shoots and after a final trial at Blaenau Ffestiniog, in North Wales, he was chosen as reserve for the national team in the Home Country Championship
s that included not only England, Scotland and Ireland, but Jersey as well - and was then selected to represent Wales for 13 years on the trot, in the teams of 15 which have the top ten to count.
"I was also qualified to shoot for England and eventually switched to shooting for them because they are very supportive, even though I have to travel long distances - but I never really need to practice because every weekend sees me taking part, usually at two separate venues.
Straight back into the thick of things
"For example, when I came back from Cape Town I was off the following Sunday to Leicester and Warwick.
"I started out at 5am and shot at Leicester before driving down to Warwick and competing there as well- and then I wasn't aware of how well I had done before I got home and checked on line for the results!"
The 'Pull!' magazine has all the competitions for the following month and Martin uses that as his booking schedule and it certainly seems to work because he has really enhanced his profile after a series of big wins.
Especially big win as reward for hard work
And none were bigger than at the Midlands Game Fair last year when he pouched the biggest prize ever in clay target shooting, which was a 'Great Wall' Steed 4x4 Pick-Up Truck.
Qualification was gained earlier in the year. Then it was down to a head to head knockout for the final at Weston Park. Martin’s nerves held well to be the outright winner.
"I had won cars before," Martin told us, "but this big beast was certainly the best."
Martin has represented England for the past three years and has been with GB for slightly longer - competing in the FITASC version of the sport in Austria, Italy, Spain and Australia.
"Some of the events have around 1.000 competitors, counting the team and individual participants, and sometimes the biggest difficulty is the heat in places like Australia. Last year I was part of the English team which came second in Florida, and there was some night-shooting as a bit of a novelty!"
And finally . . .
Martin has taken part in over 80 competitions so far this year and says he is very grateful to his employer WB Griffiths, Builders, of Prendergast, because they are great with time off for him to compete.
Ask him about stepping down from such a high-pressure sport and he would say that he intends to carry on for as long as he enjoys himself. He enjoys all the driving, still has the necessary hand/eye co-ordination and will to win that mark him out as a competitor of note in a sport where he has limited sponsorship and is still very much a home-grown product.
Above all else, though, is his down to earth manner, dedication, commitment and willingness to stay involved - and we believe that Martin Myers is destined for further honours in the highly competitive world of clay target shooting!