WELLINGTON shooters Abbey and Ed Ling have been selected in the Team England squad for the next Commonwealth Games, on the Gold Coast, Australia, in April 2018.

The husband-and-wife duo are joined by a third Somerset shooter – 19-year-old Ellie Seward, from Chard.

The squad of 20 athletes will compete for Team England across four disciplines – rifle, pistol, shotgun and full bore – in the Belmont Shooting Centre in Brisbane, from April 8 to 14.

The Lings and Seward will all take part in the shotgun discipline, with only Ed Ling having taken part in a Commonwealth Games before, in Glasgow in 2014.

He also has Olympic Games experience, as he competed at Athens 2004 and London 2012, before winning bronze in the men’s trap at Rio 2016.

Of the team of 20, 11 athletes have been to a Commonwealth Games before, with 21 medals between them.

Sarah Winckless, chef de mission for Commonwealth Games England, said: “We’re incredibly proud to be announcing such a strong shooting team for the Games.

“We’re putting forward some of the best shooters in the world and we’re confident that we will be sending the most prepared English team to Australia next April.”

Team England will send around 600 athletes and staff to the Games, to compete in 18 sports, including 38 para medal events.

Team England shooting squad
Rifle - Ken Parr, David Binney, Dean Bale, Katie Gleeson, Lina Jones.
Pistol - Kristian Callaghan, Victoria Mullin.
Shotgun - Freddie Killander, Jack Fairclough, Matt French, Steven Scott, Ed Ling, Aaron Heading, Amber Hill, Emily Hibbs, Rachel Parish, Abbey Ling, Ellie Seward.
Full bore - David Luckman, Parag Patel.