Five members of the Great Britain team (Double Trap and Trap) are in Malta for a one-week training camp.
The shooters are Steven Scott, Steven Walton and Tim Kneale in Double Trap and Brad Davies and Carl Exton in Trap. All of them are English, with the exception of Kneale who hails from the Isle of Man.
They are accompanied by team managers Ian Coley and John Leighton Dyson.
Addressing a news conference yesterday, Salvu Portelli, Malta Shooting Federation President, welcomed the British contingent, adding he hoped the training camp would be useful also for the Maltese shooters in their preparations for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games.
Portelli also said that this year the Maltese were looking forward to obtaining a quota for an automatic place in the next Olympics, thus enabling Malta to have a chance of entering a second shooter through a wild card.
He said much of the attention was centred around William Chetcuti, but even Rodney Micallef was doing well and they also had high hopes that they would figure well in the team event at the Commonwealth Games.
Pippo Psaila, MOC Director of Sport, said shooting was a very important sport for Malta as it provided the only hope for a medal at the Olympic Games through the talents of William Chetcuti. He emphasised the fact that the young shooter was just the greater part of a movement, which is geared towards aiming for an Olympic medal in future.
Mr Coley said yesterday they knew about Chetcuti and also thought he would be a protagonist in the China Olympics in 2008. He said they could not bring the whole contingent of around 30 members as it was not possible for the Maltese Federation to host such a number on just two layouts at the Bidnija Shooting Ranges.
He praised the layouts, however, adding that they figured among the best they had visited. “The machines are top world standard. They are superb, even in difficult weather conditions. It is a pity only two layouts are available here. Otherwise we would be able to come over with a full complement every year,” he said.
Franco Azzopardi, chairman of the Maltese Council for Sport, also addressed the news conference, saying that he was glad that the KMS was offering its support to Chetcuti and the Shooting Federation. He augured success to the Maltese shooters in their forthcoming events, especially the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in March.