SURE-shooting champion Claire Griffin is aiming to beat the best shots in the Commonwealth next week.
Claire, 22, still flushed with the success of becoming the women's English champion with a small bore rifle, will be representing England at the Commonwealth Games in Bisley next Monday and Friday.
Claire, of Stanley, who started shooting when she was only 11, said: "I was encouraged by my father, Walter, who used to be the Durham County champion.
"I found I quite liked it and by the age of 14 really started getting into it."
She went on to win a series of championships and at the Commonwealth Games she will be joining team-mate Betty Spicer in the three-position match.
Claire admits that her sport may not draw the biggest crowds of the Games: "It isn't, perhaps, a terribly exciting sport to watch. But it is physically demanding and requires a lot of stamina.
"It feels as if you have run a marathon when you finish, and takes a lot of mental and physical strength."
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