Stourbridge shooter targets the top

The 44-year-old is having a fine year so far and became the British disabled shooting champion, after scoring a record 632.6 at the British Airgun Championships in Surrey.

At the end of January, he won bronze at the IPC Shooting World Cup in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, where more than 300 disabled shooters from 30 different countries took part.

Davies, who made his Paralympic debut at London 2012, is now looking impress Team GB selectors and once again make it to the top of the world rankings.

He said: "I have just regained my British title and I'm off to Poland for a a World Championship competition in April and, hopefully, I can move up the rankings after that.

"Then I have got another tournament in Hanover, Germany, which is the final one before the team selection for Rio."

Davies was a wheelchair rugby player for 14 years but gave up the sport after failing to make the squad for the Beijing Paralympics in 2008.

He then dedicated himself to training to become a shooter, and made his international bow at the IPC Shooting World Cup in Antalya, Turkey one year later.

In 2011, he reached No.1 in the world rankings and then fulfilled his dream of competing in the Paralympics in 2012.

He placed 16th in the R4 10-metre air rifle standing mixed SH2 event and admitted the pressure of being in front of a huge home crowd got to him.

He said: "London was unbelievable, our normal spectator crowds are of around 200 people but in London there was about 2,500 people and I really felt the home pressure.

"I really felt it that day, it affected my psyche. The home pressure got to me and I didn't perform as well as I should have.

"I have never felt anything like it, but I have been around the world for a few years since and I feel like I'm ready for Rio. The nerves have been put to one side."

At the IPC Shooting World Cup back in January, Richard had to maintain total concentration in temperatures of more than 30 degrees and thinks shooting requires going into a 'meditative state.'

He said: "Having good stability and keeping your heart rate calm is paramount in shooting. I train for 52 hours every week, working a lot on my concentration and almost going into a meditative state."

The SH2 classification is for competitors who are not able to support the weight of the firearm with their arms and therefore require a spring mounted stand to shoot.

The target consists of 10 concentric scoring rings, with the central ring worth 10 points and the outside ring worth one.

In the 10m air rifle event, the whole target is 4.5 centimetres in diameter and the central ring is just half a millimetre across.

Each competitor takes 60 shots at the target in a set time period, and then the eight top scoring athletes go through to a 10-shot final.

The shots in the final are scored to one decimal place, with a top score of 10.9, and are added on to the qualification score to determine the winner.

Davies is currently fourth in the IPC official world rankings for the R4 10-metre air rifle standing mixed SH2 event,.

He's behind first-placed Slovenian Francek Gorazd Tirsek, fellow Briton Ryan Cockbill and Tanguy De La Forest from France.

Hereford's James Bevis, who won bronze at London 2012, and Tim Jeffery are also in the top 10.

With the competition for places fierce, Davies has Rio in his sights and does not have a definite plan in place for the next few years to come.

He added: "I just need to concentrate everything on Rio at the moment, and then take it from there."