Nine shooters heading to Glasgow

Delhi gold medallists Mike Collings. Photo / Michael Cunningham.

Delhi gold medallists Mike Collings and John Snowden head a nine-strong shooting team for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

Competing in the fullbore rifle, the pair is aiming for another medal performance, but say competition will be tough.

"Just 22 countries progress through a stringent qualification process to earn a spot at Glasgow and it is much tougher than earning a spot at the world championships,'' said Collings, who will compete as an individual as well as alongside Snowden in the pairs.

"We have performed exceptionally well in the past and are now focused not just on our individual performance but on how we work together in competition.''

Like many amateur athletes, Collings maintains a part-time job as a fitter to fund his training and competition programme.

"Training is a challenge with work commitments but this is a pinnacle event for us and we're aiming for a medal.''

Collings and Snowden will include Australian and UK-based events in their Glasgow build-up.

Also named was 21-year old Jenna McKenzie from Lumsden, who will become the first New Zealander to shoot in all three small bore rifle events at an elite competition. With three disciplines to prepare for, McKenzie said her training programme is varied.

"Indoor air rifle is very precise with fractions being the difference between winning and losing. On the outdoor range we're also taking into account wind speed, direction and also lighting.''

Shooting New Zealand sport development manager Gavin Paton said the team have considerable experience.

"We have asked the athletes to meet tough selection criteria and the result is a strong team.

"Overall, there is a depth of experience with the bulk of the team competing at their second or third Commonwealth Games. We've also got a good mix of young athletes, including Jenna and Natalie, alongside the older hands in Mike and John.''

Ricky Zhao and Jenna McKenzie will be competing at their first Commonwealth Games this July.

Shooting is one of New Zealand's most successful Commonwealth Games sports, with 51 medals won since the first in 1966. Athletics has won the most medals (151) followed by Cycling (86) and Swimming (77).

New Zealand shooting team for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July:

John Snowden (men's full-bore and full-bore pairs rifle), Mike Collings (men's fullbore and fullbore pairs rifle), Natalie Rooney (clay target, women's trap), Myles Browne-Cole (clay target, men's trap), Ricky Zhao (men's 50m pistol), Jenna MacKenzie (smallbore rifle, women's 10m air rifle, women's prone rifle and women's 3P), Sally Johnston (smallbore rifle, women's prone rifle), Martin Hunt (smallbore rifle, men's prone rifle), Ryan Taylor (smallbore rifle, men's prone rifle)