Last month Michael Drever from Leven flew out to Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates for the first Para trap World Cup of 2018. It was the first the first occasion when the leading Para pistol, rifle and shotgun athletes had competed on the same programme in the one event. The next significant event for Michael will be the GBR selection shoot in Wales in May. Later in the year he hopes to compete in the World Cup event in France in September and the World Championships in Lonato in Italy in October.
Since his introduction to international Para trap shooting last year in Italy, Michael has made significant progress in all aspects of his shooting. A strong winter training programme ensured he has retained the sharpness necessary for a positive start to the new season. Scottish Target Shooting (STS) introduced Michael to STS high performance coach Marco Micheli and the results have been instant, following a successful spell of warm weather training in Malaga in January. A further session at the STS national shooting centre with one to one coaching sessions also made a marked difference to the athlete from Orkney who has now settled in Fife with his wife and young family.
The UAE World Cup event was staged, not surprisingly, in a week of warm weather. The lineup of international athletes was world class and the shoot was held in a world class venue. During practice Michael followed the instructions of STS coach Marco Micheli and prepared accordingly. With appropriate adjustments made, Michael decided that he would approach the targets early on.
The first day of competition resulted in a solid and consistent performance with a 20, 18, 20, resulting in 2nd place and two targets off the leader. This gave Michael confidence going into the second day but made sleeping a real challenge. Being well placed at this stage of a major competition was new territory for the proud Orcadian.
The second day did not start too well. A score of 15 was a setback but thankfully it didn’t really affect Michael’s position because he finished with another 20. He was now in joint second place. Following a short winning shoot off with the Australian competitor he was awarded bib no. 2. This was a good place to be because if scores were tied with any competitors wearing bibs no. 3 – 6 during the eliminations, he would progress to the next elimination round.
Michael felt good going into the final but this was new ground for him entirely and he knew it would throw up something new. He started quite well but tailed off towards the end of the 25 targets. The scores were close between all competitors other than the leader, therefore he knew he couldn’t afford to slip up. Michael kept pace for the first targets but on the 4th place elimination round lost concentration and lost too many targets and found himself out of reach. Michael was eliminated at this point but he is confident that he will use the experience of Al Ain as a driving force in the future. So near yet so far and Michael had experienced for the first time the highs and lows of high performance Para sport.
4th place was not the plan but finishing 2nd in qualification was an excellent result. Michael has proven to himself and his team of supporters that he has the ability to go all the way in international Para trap shooting. Next time when he is in a final he will be better prepared and believes he will be a better competitor. All of us in Disability Sport Fife know that he is a hard working focused top athlete, dedicated to his sport. Michael’s time will come and for the moment congratulations from all of us in Fife and no doubt as far north as Orkney.
Richard Brickley MBE – President Disability Sport Fife