WILTSHIRE archer Mark Rudd was savouring his opportunity to shoot for his country this week.

Rudd, 48, from Beeching-stoke, near Pewsey, is a member of the Devizes Bowmen club and was representing Great Britain for the first time at the first leg of the 2014 Archery World Cup in China.

Software engineer Rudd, who took up the sport fully in 2006 having tried it 20 years earlier, was competing in the compound event in Shanghai.

He said: “Eight years later I am now representing Great Britain for my first time at one of the most prestigious tournaments in the archery world and it is undoubtedly the biggest achievement of my archery career to date.

“My approach is to try to treat it as much as possible like any other tournament I have shot at and to focus on my shooting technique and let the score hopefully take care of itself.

“If I can shoot a score comparable to my average in other competitions I will be very pleased.’’

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