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A hotbed of shooting talent will get the rare opportunity to show off their skills in front of a crowd at the NatWest International Island Games.
Guernsey is expected to be fighting for medals across the different disciplines: air rifle, air pistol, clay, fullbore and pistol.
And with new electronic scoring being brought in, the spectators will be able to follow the action like never before in the island.
“Generally speaking, Guernsey shoots well above its weight in terms of the amount of shooters that we have on the island and how well they do both nationally and internationally. There’s really a hotbed of talent here,” Guernsey’s shooting coordinator Chris Jackson told Express’ Beyond the Games podcast.
Air rifle and air pistol will be taking place at the Aztech Centre, both shot over 20 metres, with individual and team competitions.
Pistol shooting is at the quarry on Chouet headland.
Fullbore is being hosted at Fort Le Marchant on a range that sees shots being fired over 900 metres.
Skeet shooting will take place at Portinfer and traditional clay pigeon at Mont Herault.
Guernsey’s squad has proven medal winners as well as those making their debut Games appearance.
One of those with plenty of Games experience is 70-year-old Noel Duquemin (pictured below).
He has an Island Games career that dates back to 1985 and up until 2011 attending nearly for the Games, winning 25 medals along the way.
Shooting took him to the Commonwealth Games five times between 1974 and 1994, making friends around the world.
The carrot of a home Games was a huge incentive to make the Guernsey team again, this time in the Olympic Skeet.
Worsening eye sight means he had to wear glasses, which create problems when sighting with the pistol.
Guernsey has medal chances across the shooting competition, although Noel’s personal expectations are tempered, aiming to finish, half way up the table, a top six and he would be “over the moon”.
Pictured above: Nick Kerins.
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