Taverner to have shot at clay target champs

[caption id="attachment_34274" align="alignright" width="405"] FIRE AWAY: Clay shooter Clive Taverner is ready for action at the World Championships[/caption]

BAY businessman Clive Taverner has been invited to the World Clay Target Championships to be held in Italy in August.

Taverner, 62, will be jetting off to represent South Africa in the championships. He is one of the three members of the Protea team, along with Dave Cohen and Orazio Cremona from Gauteng North province.

Taverner previously represented South Africa 10 years ago in Ohio in the US and in 2009 at the European Championships held in France.

"Shooting clays, which travel at more than 120km/h and at distances of up to 75 metres, requires quick reflexes and sound hand-eye coordination," he said when asked what skill was needed to be successful at the sport.

He started shooting clay targets at the age of 47 after rugby and running injuries caught up with him.

He is a member and former chairman of the Port Elizabeth Clay Target Club and is one of the oldest participants in South Africa to obtain national colours.

The sport is not without personal challenges.

"The sudden arrival of a dominant left eye and being right-handed has meant I have had to close my left eye to be able to continue competing in the sport.

"This has put me in difficult situations when the targets fly out to the left – I suppose this comes with age."