LOCAL shooting sensation Sylwester Los confirmed his status as the country’s deadliest marksman when he defeated Olympic and Commonwealth gold medalist Mick Gault no less than three times on his way to the British Open Pistol Championship title last weekend.

The victory was the Roding Rifle and Pistol Club member’s fourth consecutive major tournament win, but that only begins to scratch the surface of Los’s achievements.

Two near-faultless rounds saw the Polish-born shooter see off Gault and the rest of the competition to be crowned champion on the Saturday, before he returned for the second round of the aggregate event the following morning.

After a day of intense shooting, Los incredibly managed to up his game, so much so that his score of 584 out of a possible 600 would have earned him a silver medal at last summer’s Beijing Olympic Games.

Roding club captain Cliff Gardner attempted to put the accolade into perspective: “Imagine if a local cycling club member turned up and beat Olympic champion Chris Hoy three times in the same event. That’s the kind of scale we’re talking about. That would make all the news programmes but shooting doesn’t have the same profile as cycling.

“But it’s an incredible achievement and Sylwester is undoubtedly the best in the country at present.”

On the first day of competition, Los sealed the victory with a final shoot of 99.3 out of 100, giving him an overall championship total of 677.3.

Not content with that achievement, Los returned to beat Gault by a staggering 20 points on Sunday, a deficit almost unheard of at the top level of the sport.

The triumph is Los’s fourth on the English circuit, having won September’s ten-metre air pistol British Open, the Surrey Open in November and December’s British Pistol Club Open, as well as a plethora of international titles.