Amber Hill rolled with the punches to win World Cup silver and become Great Britain’s most decorated international shooter of all time.
Amber Hill the 24-year-old overcame teeming rain and technical hitches to win the 11th World Cup medal of her career in Changwon, South Korea.
In the process she overtook Sydney Olympic champion Richard Faulds, who held the previous British record of ten.
Hill, who missed Tokyo 2020 after testing positive for Covid-19 pre-departure, is in the form of her life having won three medals on the World Cup circuit in 2022 alone.
“It feels amazing to come away with another World Cup medal,” she said.
“Three in one year seems incredible. It feels like everything has fallen into place, especially after last year’s disappointment.
“This season has been fantastic and hopefully we keep it going.”
Hill won gold in Nicosia in March and silver in Lonato in May.
She shot 120 in qualifying and then a near-perfect 29 out of 30 in her semi-final - the latter coming against all the odds.
Incredibly Hill was unable to open her gun at the start of the semi-final, meaning she was releasing her gun after each shot with a screwdriver.
The Rio 2016 Olympian was also faced with torrential rain for long spells on the range.
“I remembered training at home!” she said. “There are times I’ve been in exactly the same conditions, hardly being able to see, with the water running into my eyes.
“Thinking about that helped me push through to the finals, to know I’ve done it before and do my best.”
Hill was matched by Lucie Anastassiou in shooting 34 in the final, leading to a shoot-off won by the French star.
Hill said: “The success this year is about hard work, listening to my body and what I need. I’ve taken some good time off and when I need to, also got the work done on the range.
“I’ve tried to stay as positive as I can through some hard stuff and make the best out of situations.”
Meanwhile Ben Llewellin emerged with bronze from the men’s skeet competition.
Adding to his haul of two World Cup silvers, the 28-year-old missed out on competing for gold by just one target.
Earlier in the competition he went through qualification in 3rd place after a shoot-off on a score of 121.
Sportsbeat 2022