PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - The coastal town of Plett seems to be producing champions when it comes to a variety of sports, the latest being in clay target shooting.
Resident Tony Blignaut secured the title of veteran champion at the fifth FITASC Asian Championships over the past weekend. The competition was held in Photharam, Thailand - about 120km from Bangkok.
Travelling the world
Blignaut says he actually participated in two competitions (two disciplines), the first being the fourth Fitasc Asian Championships Sporting on 16 and 17 November. "It's not my main discipline, but I did shoot it and finished in fourth position in my category: veterans," he said.
The second competition was the fifth Fitasc Asian Championships Compak Sporting two days later, where he won the veterans category. This comes as no surprise, as it is his favourite discipline and he has won it in 2020 as well.
"They never had it last year due to Covid-19 so I remain the Veteran Asian Champion from 2020 to 2023, when they will have the 6th Asian Championships in Compak Sporting," he says.
"I have on many occasions been in the top five in major competitions. They all count, but of course winning counts more. This year I have shot in Cyprus, the USA, Hungary, Italy, Czech Republic and South Africa."
He represented South Africa at the Fitasc Compak World Championships in Cape Town in August this year, and now at the Asian Championships in Thailand. He is currently in Chiang Mai to shoot in the first Thailand Fitasc Compak Grand Prix from 23 to 25 November.
He has managed to maintain first position in the world rankings for Compak Sporting as a veteran.
Attraction
What attracted Blignaut to the sport was the skill required - the most difficult disciplines being sporting and Compak Sporting. Clay target shooting is widely split into two distinct types of target: standards and sporting. In standards, identical clay targets are thrown at the same speed and distance. Unlike standards, in sporting just about anything goes.
The targets can be any size, thrown at any speed and at any angle. "Basically the range-setter decides what a target should do and the shooter has to figure out what to do to break the target."
Though practising is just as necessary as in any other sport, he doesn't train any more or any less before major tournaments. "I try to get two sessions in a week and that's it. I have a full-time job so that's as good as I can do," he explains.
Starting a club
Blignaut has also done his bit to develop the sport by starting a clay target shooting club in Plett in 2015.
"There were no clubs within 100km and I wanted to try clay target shooting as a sport, so I started the club in order to be able to practise and learn. I opened the club up to anyone who wanted to shoot clay targets and gave free lessons and advice to anyone who wanted to listen to me."
The club is called Eden Clay Target Shooting Academy and is based in The Crags.
Currently, the club has about 40 members with two national team members. "I got my national colours in 2016, and have been a member of the national team basically ever since. The team is also fluid. There is a team for each discipline and the team members are chosen based on recent performances at national trials."
Blignaut especially likes training juniors, as they have very good eyesight and hand-eye-coordination, and they learn fast.
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