A second wave of athletes has today been announced for the Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games squad, including a further four Sports Institute Northern Ireland (SINI) athletes.
SINI Shooters David Calvert, Kirsty Barr and David Beattie, along with Bowler Neil Booth, will join previously announced SINI stars Madeline Perry (Squash), Jennifer Dowds (Bowls), Sandra Bailie (Bowls) and David McCann (Cycling) in this year’s Delhi Games, which kick off in just 130 days.
David Calvert is no stranger to the Commonwealth Games; this will be the full-bore shooter’s 9th appearance for Northern Ireland, in a career that has seen him win a total of 5 medals to make him Northern Ireland's most successful Commonwealth Games competitor.
David will be joined in Delhi by fellow SINI Athlete and Commonwealth Games medallist David Beattie. Beattie is the current Commonwealth Games Silver medallist in the Olympic Trap Shooting discipline and has remained a strong competitor since the 2006 games, winning Gold at the 2009 British Grand Prix. He said of his inclusion in the Northern Ireland Team:
“I am really looking forward to going to Delhi. We were there in February for the Commonwealth Shoot and we were bowled over by the people. They are so friendly and at ease with one another, they enjoy life so much, even though some of them have nothing so it will be great to go again and take in their culture.
In terms of expectations everyone who goes to the Commonwealth Games wants a Gold medal, if your best gets you a gold medal then great but everyone has to give it their best. In my sport there are peaks and troughs in terms of performance and I hope to be hitting the right scores in Delhi!”
Kirsty Barr is the third SINI Shooter to be included in the squad, and the 22-year old certainly made a name for herself earlier this year when she fired her way to gold in the Commonwealth Shooting Championships in India. Kirsty, a member of Thatch Clay Target Club in Broughshane scored 70 hits out of 75 in India, and then 22 out of 25 (single barrel), giving her a total of 92 - and the gold medal.
One athlete with plenty of Commonwealth Games experiences is SINI Bowler Neil Booth. The three-time medallist will travel to Delhi in October to compete in the triples event, and is relishing the opportunity, commenting:
“This will be my fourth Commonwealth Games, I took Gold in 1998, Bronze in 2002 and Silver in 2006. I am obviously delighted to be selected for the 2010 Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games team and am really looking forward to heading out to Delhi. Competition at the Games is getting more and more difficult and in terms of my own expectations I would be happy to come back with a medal. The standard of our sport has got measurably higher over the last 10 years, a lot of countries who would have been described as minnows 10 years ago are now professional full time bowlers.
We have a very experienced and tight team; most of the team have medalled at either World competitions or previous Commonwealths so I think we are a confident group. SINI have been fantastic to me to be honest, everything that they do is specific to me and my needs as a bowler. There is a real individual focus in every aspect of the support from Nutrition to Psychology to Strength and Conditioning training.”
