Di and Nathan win medals in Korea

Nathan celebrates his medal	Team photo	Di celebrates her medal

Paralympic Games multi-medallist Di Coates and rising star Nathan Milgate were on fine form at the Korean Open Championships winning silver and bronze respectively.

The Jikji Cup Korean Open Championships, which took place in Cheongiu from May 3 to 10, is ranked by the IPC as one of the key Paralympic Qualification events.

Milgate, who celebrated his 20th birthday today, shot a personal best in the air rifle – his secondary event - on the first day of competition to make it to the finals, where he eventually placed 6th.

He however followed this up with even better performances in the R3 Prone event – where he took bronze behind Ashley Adams of Australia and Dong Chao of China.

Meanwhile Di Coates, who has amassed a total of five Paralympic Games medals – including gold at Seoul in 88 and Barcelona in 92 - recovered from a shaky start in her R2 standing air rifle event, where she failed to qualify for the finals on the first day of competition, to win silver in the mixed open falling target rifle event.

New national coach and performance manager, Pasan Kularatne, who joined the squad in April having previously coached the Sri Lankan Olympic team, travelled with the pair to Korea for the event.

He said: “I am pleased with the athletes’ excellent performances and we were proud to see the British Flag flying twice at the Medal Ceremonies.”

British Paralympic Association Sports Performance Manager Claire Stirling, added: “It is really good to see the athletes bringing home medals at such a world class event as we approach Beijing.  The team was able to perform at the highest level in the Far East showing that our preparation and travel strategies are going to plan.”