By Justin Flynn
Shooting has been a part of Scott Kiddle’s life since he can remember, but an astonishing rise to international level means he is now one of Australia’s best benchrest shots.
Kiddle, 36, will head to Slovenia next month for the World Rimfire Air Rifle Benchrest Federation World Cup as one of nine Aussies chosen for the competition, which will attract 142 competitors from 29 countries.
The Ocean Grover only started taking the sport seriously on a competitive level in 2012 and already has a bronze medal from the 2015 World Championships in Brisbane to show.
“I’ve always shot and it’s just a sport I could do that fitted into my lifestyle with a young family – it was pretty hard doing cricket and footy,” he said.
The World Cup will be held in Slovenia’s second-largest city, Maribor, about a 45-minute drive from the capital, Ljubljana.
The journey will involve leaving from Melbourne with stops at Abu Dhabi and Paris on the way. Kiddle said the stopover in the UAE had involved some heavy planning with his equipment.
“It’s harder to get our ammunition out of the country than it is to get our rifles. There are permits to organise and it’s a bit of a logistical nightmare really,” he said.
“At Abu Dhabi, the baggage handlers can’t offload our ammunition and rifles and they have to bring in special people to do that and it involves getting, and paying for, permits.”
Kiddle is confident of success.
“I back myself to come home with a medal, but ideally I’d like to improve on my bronze,” he said.
“Everyone wants to represent their country in their chosen sport so it’s a big honour to be able to represent Australia anywhere.”
Kiddle said the keys to being able to shoot well during competition were: “concentration, being able to read the wind, knowledge of your equipment, good ammo and breathing”.
“Sometimes with the wind, we have to aim off our target to be able to hit it,” he said.
