By MARK RAYNER

The goal of competing at the Junior World Cup is one step closer for Bathurst shooter Michael Coles after he took out the National Junior Trap Shooting title in Brisbane last week.

The talented 19-year-old shot 112 of a possible 125 targets at the event to finish one target ahead of his closest rivals in Russell McCloy and Michael McNabb.

This weekend he will look to recapture that form when he lines up in the Australia Cup at Cecil Park Gun Club, and a good start there would help him towards a chance of representing his country.

"We have got the Australia Cup, which is one of the biggest events behind the nationals. There are four Australia Cup events and at each you have 125 targets. These events count towards your ranking and the Junior Australian Team is picked on those rankings," he said.

"In the last couple of years the International Committee started a World Cup that has been held in Italy and Germany. Australia took three juniors to the last one so hopefully if I can do well in that I could earn a place in that team. That would be pretty good."

One of the biggest challenges that Coles faced in the national titles came when he entered the second and final day of the shoot with a one-shot lead and had to overcome nerves as he held on to win.

He set up his win with a strong performance on the opening day of with rounds of 24, 23 and 23 of a maximum 25, putting him on a total of 70 ? one ahead of McNabb and three ahead of McCloy.

"I think there was a bit more pressure on me on the second day. Overnight I knew I was going to have to shoot pretty well if I was going to win," Coles said.

"I wasn't as happy with how Sunday went, I shot rounds of 21 and 21."

It might not have been quite as strong as his first rounds but it was enough to give Coles the title and he was delighted to claim the Brisbane event.

Making his win even more impressive was the fact that he has only been shooting since he was 16, a lot less time than most of his rivals.