A STORTH shooter is celebrating after firing his way to a silver medal in a Great Britain shooting trial event.

Jonny Howsley, who suffers from Duchenne Muscular Distrophy, finished second in group B of the SH2 Prone 10 metre Air Rifle competition held at the birthplace of the Paralympic Games at Stoke Mandeville.

The 20-year-old shot a 592 and a 587 to book his place in the final where he missed out to eventual winner Tim Webb by eight shots.

He trains once a month in Stoke Mandeville with the GB team but he is planning to increase his training schedule at Kendal Shooting Club on Parkside Road to close the gap on the podium team.

He wants to try to qualify for the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in four years time, although he knows he needs to up his game to reach that level.

“I do genuinely believe I have the ability to achieve the scores needed to gain a place on the Great Britain team for Rio 2016.

“Obviously it won't be easy but I am relishing the challenge.

“My condition means I am unable to train for long periods to keep fit so the fact shooting is less about physical fitness and more about mental concentration suits me rather well.”

His loader Danny Harper, who is a judoka and trains at Kendal Dojo, is delighted with his protoge’s progress.

“His talent for shooting cannot be mistaken - he's extremely committed to achieving his very best and his creativity to surpass the barriers his condition displays is really quite mind-blowing.

“He really deserves his latest success and I'm over the moon for him.”

“I'm sure this won't be the last you'll here of this young man and I'm looking forward to helping him continue on his journey as a potential Paralympic shooter."

Harper added that Howsley wouldn’t be where he is now without the support of Kendal Shooting Club and coach Martin Ives, who has just been called up to the English Small-bore Shooting Union.

Ives will take part in the Inter-Services match at Ash Ranges, Surrey on Sunday, September 23 four years after he shot for England in the Scottish Meeting.

The X Class man, a status achieved by being in the top 10 per cent of A Class at either the Scottish Meeting or the Bisley Meetings, said he was looking forward to the event this weekend.