Top Para Trap shooter has high praise for Barbados

England’s number one Para Trap shooter Keith White has given a thumbs up to Barbados for holding a world-class event.

The 51-year-old White competed in the recently concluded Barbados International Trap and Skeet Invitational, which was held at the Barbados Clay Target Association Range over the weekend.

White, who shoots from a wheelchair, placed third in the trapshooting final, behind the Barbados duo of Tosh Jones and Aiden Johnson, who placed first and second respectively.

In an interview with Barbados TODAY, White, who resides in Edinburgh, Scotland, said he was especially impressed with the facility as well as the level of competition.

“It was my first trip to Barbados and it’s not going to be my last. I’m already planning to come back next year,” the bronze medalist at the 2022 World Championships and European Championships said.

“I thought my performance was actually quite good. I hadn’t shot for a few months since the World Championships in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, in November last year, but to actually come out to Barbados and shoot in great weather with great company on an absolutely world-class shooting layout put me back up to where my performance should be. My performance was pretty good and it was down to the environment that I was in…The shooting ground was excellent, the warm friendly atmosphere, the welcome that we got and the interaction were just absolutely incredible so the next time we come we will spend longer on the island.”

White said he now had his sights set on several upcoming international tournaments.

He said he was focused on winning gold at the World Championships before he retires.

“My next international trip will be in Croatia in July and then my next one after that will be Lima, Peru, in September for the World Championships.

“I’d like to win at the World Championships before I retire and that’s what I’m hoping to do this year. And once my shooting career is finished my goal would be to help promote Para Trap, perhaps become an ambassador for Para Trap and help develop other Para Trap shooters and guide them to get on the international circuit,” White said.

White, who got into the sport after being injured in a motorcycle accident at the age of 34, said it had provided him with an opportunity to travel the world and meet new people.

“It has been a fantastic experience and it has given me an avenue back into being a competitive sportsman. It’s allowed me to make a great set of friends both in the Para world and the able-bodied world shooting and it’s allowed me to travel the world,” he said.