Over the course of 2019, Hannah participated in a variety of competitions run by the British Pistol Club (BPC). Their Annual Championship rankings take each participant’s best four shoots from the year, meaning that it pays to be consistent. Hannah proudly placed third in the Junior Ladies category, and was only seven points (out of 2400) short of winning.

In October, Hannah took part in the National Scout Championships. Her participation was purely for personal enjoyment and to have fun with other like-minded people. She competed in both rifle and pistol events. Hannah came out with two gold and two bronze medals, with both the golds coming from an interesting event called Target Sprint – participants have to run 400m before hitting five targets, running again, hitting five more and then running to cross the finish line.

The Surrey Open, which took place in November, is the only county ‘open’ competition that is a ranking event. This means that it attracts the top shooters from across the UK and gives junior participants the opportunity to compete alongside seniors. Hannah came away from the event with a bronze medal.

December then saw Hannah participate in her first really competitive International competition with older junior athletes from recognised ‘shooting countries’ such as Sweden and Ukraine, when she attended RIAC. This takes place in Luxembourg over three days and is covered by national media. The standard and style of this competition was a step up from anything Hannah has ever attended before; with an early start time of 7.30am, it was certainly a challenge!

As well as competing in the singles, due to a shortage of senior women, Hannah was promoted into the Senior Squad to shoot mixed pairs with British men’s #2 and the masters world champion, Waldek. They shot well against national squads from many countries and placed 14^th out of 31: a great achievement. This was a fantastic experience for Hannah, and hugely valuable both from being able to shoot alongside a world champion, and also to analyse her performance with his input and expertise.

Hannah’s coach of 18 months, Paul, has now been joined by George Darling and Mick Gault, who are both Commonwealth Games multi-medal winners. Hannah’s father, Andrew, says: “It is a measure of her potential that some incredible coaches are giving her their time.”

Hannah ended 2019 by maintaining her rank as equal third in the UK. This is an achievement to be proud of and we wish Hannah the best of luck in her upcoming competitions, including the BPC Open, the Schools’ Final, Intershoot (in the Netherlands) and the British Open, which all take place in the next two months.