EVERY CLOUD HAS A SILVER LINING

George Digweed missed out on his eighth World FITASC Championship triumph as he was pipped at the post by Australian shooter Damien Birgan.

Birgan won the title in his homeland by one shot ahead of 10-time World Cup winner George, to become Australia's first world sporting clay target shooting champion.

It proved a frustrating weekend for George, who shot a total of 186 out of 200 over the four-day event, which was plagued by poor weather conditions.

George said: "I'm a bit disappointed with how it all finished up, but as it's turned out, it's probably very good for the sport. Australia have their first ever winner of the event and I think that's good for bringing the sport on in the southern hemisphere.

"I definitely shot well enough to win, but I didn't get the rub of the green."

Competitiors had to shoot 50 targets each day through the event.

George shot 49 out of 50 on the first day at Warrnambool in 32 degree heat, but suffered from harsh conditions on day two, dropping five shots. He bounced back with a round of 49 on day three but could only manage 43 on the final day, shooting his first round in a terrible storm.

"I shot rounds of 19 and 21 in bad conditions and that cost me the shoot. We shot in pouring rain on the Friday morning and terrible conditions on the Sunday, but then it cleared up and it wasn't raining.

"The big problem with rain is that it's compulsory to wear glasses so the problem you have is looking to see targets with rain in the background and rain in your glasses, and if you haven't got those sorts of issues it's a lot easier to shoot."

"Not everybody had to shoot in the rain but that's not detracting one little bit from the fact that Damien Birgan won it with what I would class as an outstanding score and he fully deserves his result.

“I would have loved the opportunity to have been able to shoot in conditions where I could have given him a run for his money.”

George finished ahead of countryman Mark Marshall, who scored 184, three behind Birgan's winning total of 187.