A PERTHSHIRE school pupil has become the first Scottish woman to win the Welsh Junior Open in clay shooting.
Molly Hall, from Strathallan School, only picked up the sport of clay target shooting in August 2021.
Since then she has represented Scotland at the European Championships, Home Internationals and was part of the Scottish Junior Team - who won their first British Open Junior Clays Championships since 1989 in July.
Hall said her win was a moment she will never forget: “It feels amazing, to know that I’m the first girl to win it and the first Scottish person, is an incredible achievement.
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“I have a tradition of not looking at the scores whilst I shoot so I didn’t know right until prize giving that I’d won. It was a memorable weekend.”
Hall trains three times a week at Strathallan’s Shooting Academy, which is home to the only purpose-built compact sporting clay pigeon shooting facility with nine fully automated traps.
She isn’t the only Shooting Academy student finding success in the sport. Current Colts Sporting World Champion Ali Turnbull represented Scotland at the Home Internationals in Jersey.
His team narrowly missed out on first place, missing just three clays out of 300.
This year marks the sixth time there has been a Scottish Women in Sport week.
School captain Melissa Forest-Smith said: “The drop off of young women in sport after school is huge.
“We want to encourage as many girls to keep active, sport doesn’t just have to be at an elite-level.
“Being physically active can have a massive impact on your mental health. During the week we are hosting a range of activities to encourage pupils and staff to pick up, stick with or try a new sport.”
Several Strathallan pupils have gone onto compete in sport at the highest-level including world alpine skier Charlie Guest and her sister, para-alpine guide Katie Guest.
Hockey goalkeeper Nicki Cochrane recently competed at the Commonwealth Games and professional rugby player Abi Evans bagged her first try for the Saracens women’s team in September.
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