Rutherglen shooter beats the world's best to claim junior crown

Rutherglen local and Wangaratta Clay Target Club shooter Nate Palubiski became just the second Australian to win a Junior FITASC World Sporting Championship, coming through in a thrilling shoot-off. The 19-year-old competed in his fourth world championships in Ota, Portugal, just north of Lisbon, in July and will be setting his sights on national glory in Cooma next weekend. After coming close to a podium finish last year on the international stage in the United States, Nate said he had felt a greater hunger to reach the top than in previous international competitions leading into his shoot in Portugal. “I was only six targets away last year, the hunger of being so close and knowing that I had the ability to do it, really drove me,” he said. “Practising at home and doing a couple of club comps, I felt really confident, prepared and driven. “Normally, I get a little nervous at the start of a shoot, but this year was quite surprising. I had no nerves—just the hunger to succeed.” The Rutherglen teen followed through on his confident preparation to make a strong start to the competition, missing just two targets out of 50 on the second day keeping him in contention. A slight hiccup on the sixth station saw Nate trailing going into the final day of competition, but he made up ground with his fourth 24/25 round of the championship in the penultimate station, tying for the lead at 180/200 total targets hit. He would enter a shoot-off with American Carson Lingle for the junior world title. “The nerves started rolling in a bit when you're standing there with a few hundred people behind you watching, but it was awesome,” Nate said. “I could hear the Aussies in the background cheering every time I smashed one of the big targets, I definitely felt the support.” Nate thrived in the high-stakes environment to win the shoot-off convincingly and was immediately swarmed by coach Chris Brown upon his crowning moment. “The other competitors hadn't even finished their shoot-off yet, and he was already hugging me,” Nate said. “Dad came out to me, he didn’t know what to say, he just hugged me… words couldn’t describe how I felt.” In its 48th year, Nate became just the second Australian ever to win the FITASC junior world championship after Mark Crevatin won in Geelong in 1988. Norm Paterson, Damien Birgan and Renae Birgan are the only other Australians to have won a world championship across the various categories. Along with his win, Nate also claimed the Beretta Cup, a cumulative standing for international events across the year. While he still feels immense pride in his world championship achievement a few months on, Nate said it has been a game changer for him as he begins his venture into coaching from his Rutherglen farm. “I’m mostly coaching locals at the moment, but a young kid from Gippsland got in contact recently about driving down,” he said. “I enjoy coaching juniors because I get a lot out of seeing the future of the sport continue; we are struggling to get juniors in Australia, so I get a real kick out of it. “Seeing everyone improve and perform with a bit of help is a great feeling. “Seeing what Chris Brown has done with me and how much he's improved my shooting—I wouldn't be where I am today without him—was a big factor in wanting to coach and help others.” Not long after his success in Portugal, Nate then competed in the Compak Sporting World Championships in Milan the following month. Preparation into that event wasn’t as smooth for Nate who battled with COVID just a week prior to the shoot, going on to finish 20th among the juniors. “I was a little disappointed, as you would be coming off a win like that, because you hold an expectation for yourself going into the next one,” he said. “It was still an awesome shoot, and I'm happy with certain aspects of it, but the overall result wasn't what I wanted.” “Having COVID right before it really knocked me around and prevented me from practising, so that played a factor, but at the end of the day, you've still got to aim the gun at the right spot, and I just didn't.” Nate will be representing Victoria for the third straight year at the Sporting Clay Australia Sporting Nationals in Cooma next weekend from 8 to 10 October after winning the junior state competition in September.

Rutherglen shooter beats the world's best to claim junior crown

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