Richard Faulds wins European double trap silver in Serbia

Faulds, left, won individual silver and team gold in the double trap

Britain's Richard Faulds won silver in the double trap event and helped GB to team gold at the European Shooting Championships in Serbia on Sunday.

Faulds, 34, finished narrowly behind Russia's Vasily Mosin with GB team-mate Peter Wilson fourth. The duo combined with Steve Walton for the team gold.

"We're so confident, I think we can do better than ever at the Olympics," said Faulds, who won gold at Sydney 2000.

Individual double trap is an Olympic event but the team equivalent is not.

Nevertheless, a European title in the team double trap is a healthy boost for Britain ahead of the sport's World Championships, due to be held in the same city of Belgrade in just a few weeks' time.

Britain defeated Italy for the gold medal on countback - shooting's equivalent of penalty kicks, in which their final round of shots outscored the Italians and secured the win.

"The team gold is something we have wanted to win for many years and we have now done that," said Faulds.

"It shows how the team is continuously improving and the signs are looking very good with a year to go until London 2012.

"It's really nice to win silver. The standard of double trap has really gone up and to have two or three guys that can push you is priceless."

Britain's shotgun squad is enjoying a rich vein of form, with Sunday's medals coming a month after Wilson won gold at a World Cup event in Maribor, Slovenia.

Double trap is a form of clay shooting in which competitors try to shoot two targets, released simultaneously in opposite directions.

In the women's 25m pistol event, Georgina Geikie finished 13th to earn an Olympic quota place for Britain.

"I'm really, really chuffed with how it went," she said.

"I wasn't really expecting to win a quota place, but I've been working really hard in training and it's paid off."

The European Championships conclude on 14 August, after which Belgrade prepares to welcome the World Championships from 3 September.