Following the likes of Jake Birtwhistle, Georgia Baker and Ariarne Titmus, pistol shooter Chris Banfield has added his name to a very impressive list.

Returning from the WA1500 pistol world championships held in New South Wales, Banfield's suitcase became slightly heavier, carrying home two trophies and medals for individual and team success.

Competing in the WA1500 discipline, the Van Diemen's club representative shoots 150 shots at the target, ranging from a distance of seven yards to 50 and, impressively, only 15 of the 33-year-old's shots missed the target's 10 ring.

Tasting defeat in individual competition by five points at the hands of German Roman Hauber, Banfield recovered by joining forces with world number one and long-time shooting partner Peter Brus, of NSW, to take home the gold.

"The last two years we've come second by a point and this year, we beat Canada by a point so it was good to finally get over the line with him," Banfield said.

"We've shot against each other for many years at nationals and stuff like that. We've had shoot-offs against each other for national championships and I've been coached by his dad, Dean Brus, for many years."

ELSEWHERE IN SPORT

Gaining selection in the Australian team through five tournaments throughout the year, Banfield competed in open, state championships and nationals to secure his spot.

"Nationals is 50 per cent of your score, so if you go to nationals and stuff that up, you're out.

"It's a tough team to get on but I managed to scrape in.

Banfield began shooting at five years of age under the watchful eye of his father, Greame, an experienced Van Diemens member who has joined him in Tasmanian representative sides, with a love of the sport escalating from there.

"I'd been shooting pretty well and a friend of mine started shooting as well, Matt Lockhart. I was coaching him and he had all these goals and that made me think 'what do I want to get out of it?'

"That's when I decided to go for the Australian team."

Meeting his girlfriend, Renae, through his chosen sport and putting aside a love of hockey for greater success, the TasFreight forklift driver still somehow struggles for motivation at times.

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"The love of the sport [keeps me motivated]. It's a really, really difficult sport and it's always that pursuit of perfection.

"I met my girlfriend here so that's worked out pretty well for me. She came out through a mutual friend and now she's got into it so that spurs me on a bit more.

"It is a bit of a dying sport unfortunately. It doesn't get a lot of publicity and when it does, it's usually bad so it's good to get some positive stuff.

"You get some new people who come out and are keen but it's very difficult to get into the sport.

"If you decided you wanted to start shooting now it would pretty much take a year before you could start shooting so it makes it hard but you can tell people are determined by getting that far."

With the world championships coming around on a two-year cycle, the European championships are next on the major event radar with Banfield already logging his scores for the Czech Republic adventure.

The former Riverside High student will then travel to Austria in 2021 to defend his world championship crown.

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