BULLSEYE for Blignaut

PLETTENBERG BAY NEWS - Tony Blignaut, the owner of Monkeyland, returned home from Thailand at the weekend with a travel bag full of trophies and medals won at the Asian Championships and Beretta Cup clay target shooting competition.

Blignaut, who shoots in the master class, won both the eighth Asian Championships and the Asian Beretta Cup. He also came third in the Thailand Grand Prix.

The competitions were held in Mae Rim and Ratchenburi in Thailand between 16 and 22 January, and 21 countries participated in the events.

Blignaut is currently second in the world rankings. Although the points he won in Thailand still have to be added for 2026, it should not change the log.

"I imagine I will not move back into first position where I have stayed for the last four years. I am shooting less and weaning off in the sport as I am turning 75, and have other priorities," said a smiling Blignaut, the new chairperson of the Plettenberg Bay Ratepayers Association.

Targets tough

"The targets in Thailand were really tough and exciting; the ranges were set by multiple world champion shootist Ben Husthwaite," said Blignaut.

There are many disciplines of clay target shooting, that can be divided into two broad categories - standard and sporting.

Standard includes skeet, trap, DHL and trench.

"Sporting is a lot tougher, as the range setter (Ben Husthwaite in this case), can decide what angle, speed, distance and type of clay (rabbit, Battue, midi, mini or super mini) to use. So chances are you will never have seen that exact target before, making it tough," said Blignaut.

Sporting is divided into three disciplines, FITASC Sporting, English Doubles and Compak Sporting.

Tony shoots in all those disciplines, but the tournaments he competed in in Thailand were all Compak Sporting.

Promote the sport

Blignaut also runs the Eden Academy Clay Target Club in The Crags, where he has trained several national and provincial shooters.

"We are a members club, but do accept visitors as we are always happy to promote and grow the sport," said Blignaut.

‘We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news’