Christian Boris wins Oceania Target Junior Championships gold medal on the Gold Coast – Blacktown Sun

Christian Boris is one of Australia's rising stars of stock sport.

Sliding strong: Seven Hill teenager Christian Boris is the Oceania junior target champion for stock sport. Picture: Andrew McMurtry

Seven Hills teenager Christian Boris is a stock sport champion after blitzing the field at the Australian Icestock Sport Association Oceania Target Junior Championship.

Stock sport, which can be done in winter on ice and in summer on asphalt, has similarities to lawn bowls and curling.

Target shooting requires players to get their stock ascloseto a target, called a daube, as possible.

Its been a quick rise for Christian, 16, after only taking up the sport in September 2015.

I found it through a friend of a friend Barry [Blacktown Workers Stock Sport club captain and president ODonnell], he said. I watched a tournament,did a few shots and I really liked it. I didnt think Id be a national champion in just under two years.

Christianscored 140 points and won by 25 points to claim the title.

Last year, he finished fourth in the junior target competition but put in extra training to get to the top of the podium.

Next for Christian will be the Junior Distance Championships, which will be held at Kareela Reserve in Doonside on the 23-24 of September.

Heis also part of the first Australian junior target team who will contest the World Championships in Austrianext February.

It will be great to meet people from around the world and testing my skills and getting used to the ice, he said.

ODonnell said Christian had worked hard for his result after participating inextra training sessions.

A veteran player in Australia, ODonnell has tasted international tournaments including three previous World Championships and said there are high hopes for growth in the sport.

There is a push to try and make it part of the Winter Olympics so weve had to adopt the regions, he said. Australia is the only country that really does it in Oceania at the moment.

Bernadette Hartman also finished third in the womens target competition after playing for just over a year.

Christian Boris holding the stock. Picture: Andrew McMurtry

About stock sport

Stock sport also known asBavarian Curling -is traditionally a sport played in southern Germany, Austria and Italy. It involves a stock, which is made up of a stick or handle and a plastic disc for sliding.

Stock sport has been demonstrated at twoWinter Olympic Games in 1936 and 1964.Although the sport is traditionally played on an ice surface, events are also held on asphaltin summer.

The first proof of the sport was found in a painting by Belgian painter Pieter Brueghelfrom the 16thcentury but it was not formalised until the 1930s. Over 30 countries currently participate in the sport.

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Christian Boris wins Oceania Target Junior Championships gold medal on the Gold Coast - Blacktown Sun