GEORGE HAILS 'BEST YEAR'

George has described 2010 as one of his best-ever years after securing a long-held personal goal in an achievement-packed 12 months.

The shooter became one of only a handful of sportspeople to win a world title in four different decades in the summer by claiming victory at the World Championships in Italy.

His career tally of world titles is now up to an immense 17.

"It's probably one of my best years," he explains. "I had a fantastic time.

"I started off well in the Pan-African championships in South Africa and the year carried on in that vein.

"Pretty much everywhere I went I was happy with my performance. You can't win every single event you go in for, but in the events I didn't win I was competing. So I was very, very pleased."

The speed with which he achieved his goal was also pleasing for George, alleviating the pressure he may have felt as the years went by.

"I'd set myself that target quite a long time ago and to achieve it in the first year of the new decade was great for me," he adds.

"I wanted the pressure to be taken off as quick as possible because the longer it went on the more it was going to build.

"So I was really really pleased to get it done straight away. It was fantastic."

George travelled the globe in 2010, taking in South Africa and Russia among other countries, and he picked both locations out for special praise.

"I loved going to South Africa. The ambiance of the place was great.

"It's the first time I've shot at Hippo Creek and I thought it was a lovely facility. The people of South Africa are charming, lovely people and that was a great experience.

"I also thoroughly enjoyed going to Russia for the European Championships. Although I ended up losing the tournament by one target, I shot well and there's no disgrace in being beaten when you shoot well.

"I thought they set the shoot up very, very well. Where we stayed was great, there were targets, a great setting and I thought it was a really wonderful shoot."

In fact, the only slight let down of the year was a below-par game shooting season.

The bad British winter has made the pheasant season difficult for George, and he concludes: "The bad weather has not made the pheasant season as it memorable as it could have been.

"Most of the drives are set up for a south-westerly wind, which is a prevailing wind.

"When we started the season, there was the most beautiful prevailing winds and we had some fantastic days. But then from about the end of the first week of November the wind's gone round and we've either had an east wind or an east north east wind which doesn't suit us at all.

"So consequently we've been trying very hard to produce something when the conditions are very much against us.

"I've done two days at Bodiam, where the shoot is south-westerly, and on both days we had north wind straight into the drives.

"The only plus point is Glassenbury, where we've got such a diversity of drives and it's such a big area that we can do any drives to suit any wind conditions.

"So that's been a major plus point for us and we've had some cracking days there."