POOLE para-shooting star Richard Bray admits a mixture of excitement and nerves is building ahead of his international bow.

The evergreen Dorset ace will be part of a British contingent heading to the International Shooting Competition of Hannover towards the end of April.

And there will be plenty at stake for the 44-year-old, who will find out at what classification he can compete in as he looks to push on to Paralympic competition.

He said: “I’ve not done it before so it’s going to be a completely new experience, but I’m also going to be extremely excited. The first couple of days will be our classification, and then I’m competing in four separate events out there.

“I’ve been through British classification and I’ve also done classification in the past for wheelchair rugby, so I’m aware of how it works. I’ve never been to an international one, but I assume it’s going to be the same.

“Competition wise, I’ve been told it’ll be like the competitions we shoot over here, but a lot bigger. It can be quite overwhelming in the sheer quantity of people on the range if you’re not used to it. To be honest, that’s one of the things I’m looking forward to - seeing such a big competition.

“Once I’ve got my international classification and I know how I’m shooting from there - whether I have back support or not - I can really focus hard on training on whatever position I’m in.

“I then want to enter more qualifying competitions and go to the competitions and hopefully win quota places for the Paralympics.

“Paris is a long-shot. There’s a small outside chance, you can never say never, but LA is the more likely one if I’m going to make it.”

Bray is one of 50 athletes supported by Entain, owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, as part of their long-standing partnership with SportsAid.

Entain have been long-standing supporters of Bray, and he has found their financial backing invaluable as he pursues his sporting dreams.

“It’s incredible, that Entain help. Shooting is an extremely expensive sport. The equipment costs a lot, the ammunition costs a lot, the travel costs a lot,” he added.

“Without the help, I wouldn’t be able to train as often as I needed to and I would be constantly worrying about how I’d pay for things like Hannover.

“It takes a lot of the strain away and lets me focus on the training side.”

Entain, owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, is proud to be championing the next generation of British sporting heroes by providing talented young athletes with financial support and personal development opportunities in partnership with SportsAid. Visit entaingroup.com to find out more.