News Archive - 2005
| Law and Ritchie win at
Glenrothes |
21st December
2005 |
|
Robin Law and Alan Ritchie were comfortable winners
in the second Air Rifle & Pistol Grand Prix of the season, held at Glenrothes on
11th of December. Full results are available
here. |
| Change of date for February
Grand Prix |
21st December
2005 |
|
Please note that the date of the Air Rifle & Pistol
Grand Prix to be held in Dumfries has changed from the 12th to the 5th of
February. |
| Rudd and Ritchie win at
Callander |
15th November
2005 |
|
Graham Rudd won his first Air Rifle Grand Prix on
Sunday, beating his 2006 Commonwealth Games team-mate Robin Law by a single
point. Rudd entered the final one point ahead of Law, with scores of 577
and 576 respectively, and both men produced identical finals of 101.6 resulting
in no change at the top. In the Air Pistol, Alan Ritchie - also selected
for the Commonwealth Games - was a clear winner, his 575 providing an eighteen
point lead over Bob Carroll before the final. |
| Commonwealth Games
Nominations Accepted |
15th November
2005 |
|
The eight smallbore and air rifle shooters nominated
by SSRA and STSF have been formally announced as members of the 2006
Commonwealth Games team by the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland.
The team will depart Scotland for Australia on the 28th of February, with the
first competitions being held on March 17th, two days after the Opening
Ceremony. |
| Rudd wins at Aldersley |
24th October
2005 |
|
Graham Rudd added a remarkable eight points to his
personal best with the air rifle at the NSRA Inter-Region match at Aldersley
yesterday, a score of 588 giving him a seven-point margin in the individual
match. |
| Support the
Commonwealth Games Team |
13th October
2005 |
 |
You can show your support for the Scottish shooters
in the 2006 Commonwealth Games by purchasing fleeces and polo-shirts with our
supporter's logo on it. We have fleeces in grey and blue, as shown on the
left, and polo-shirts in white and sky blue, all with the logo as shown on the
right. All proceeds will go towards the preparation of the selected team
members. Please contact Jim Cole-Hamilton -
development@ssra.co.uk - for more
details. |
 |
| Scottish Juniors take honours
in North Island, New Zealand Match |
4th October
2005 |
|
The Scottish team in the Under-21 section of the
annual postal international match against North Island, New Zealand recorded
their fourth victory in the six years of the competition, setting a new Scottish
Record for the match in the process. The team of Kay Copland, Matthew
Thomson, Robin Honhold, Nicola Sammels and Oliver Barron recorded a score of
1956 to beat the Kiwis by six points, and the Scottish record by three.
In the main match, the Scots failed in their attempt to level the 32 year old
series, going down by a single point to the New Zealanders, despite Jim
Cole-Hamilton producing only the second perfect score of 400 by a Scot since the
targets changed in 1991. The results are available
here. |
| Pairs Gold in Men's Air Rifle
and Men's Prone at CSF(ED) |
21st September
2005 |
|
With a team made up of a mix of A-squad, B-Squad,
and development shooters, Scotland were successful at the CSF(ED) Championships
on the Isle of Man last weekend.
On the Friday, at the new National Sports Centre, Robin Law (584) and Graham
Rudd (577) won an early Gold Medal in the Air Rifle Pairs event, with a total
score of 1161, some 10 points ahead of Wales, who took second place on countback
from England. In the individual event, Robin (578) was edged from 2nd to
4th place in a very close final, with Graham (575) finishing 6th. On a
cold windy day at the 50m Sinclair Range, Scotland finished 4th in the prone
women pairs event with Sheena Sharp on 589, and Kay Copland disappointed only to
shoot 571, but in the concurrent badge match, Nicola Sammels shot well to finish
3rd with 578. In the Prone men individual development match, Graham Love
finished 3rd with 576, with Steven Campbell in 5th place with 574.
Saturday started on Sinclair Range with the Prone Men Pairs, the "A" team
being Bill Copland and Martin MacGill. They both shot steadily in a
difficult wind, and variable light to get 586 and 589 respectively, totalling
1175 for first place and the gold medal ahead of England with 1173 and IOM with
1170. T he Prone men "B" Pairs and badge match followed with David Simpson (578)
and Steven Campbell (575) getting 2nd place with a total score of 1155, just one
point behind Wales, and Graham Love finishing 2nd with 579 in the concurrent
badge match. The 3P started at lunchtime, both 3x20 and 3x40 being shot
simultaneously. Graham Rudd finished 4th with 1123, and Graham Love in 5th
place with 1112. Sheena Sharp finished 2nd in the 3x20 with 548.
On the Sunday, the day started with the Prone Men Individual. The
conditions were better, and Bill Copland (596) and Martin MacGill (595) both
took advantage of it to shoot new PBs (by several points). Graham Rudd
shot 587 to finish 9th and David Simpson shot 580 to finish 16th.
Unfortunately both Bill and Martin struggled at the start of the final, and were
edged to 2nd and 3rd respectively by an excellent final from Griff Morgan from
Wales. In the Women's Prone Individual, Sheena Sharp finished 3rd with 585, with
Kay Copland shooting 570. It must be said that Kay coped very calmly with
all the problems thrown at her for this match - no target loaded to start with,
then it turned out that the first sighter had shot holes in it, then, having
started again after a late break to deal with an upset stomach, the target
jammed with four shots to go, necessitating a move to the hospital bay, which,
having been given a five minute extension, then left her the only one still
shooting when time was called! In the concurrent Development Shooters
match, Nicola Sammels finished with 197 to win with 576. In the final
event, Graham Rudd (1132) and Graham Love (1094) finished 2nd in the 3 Position
Pairs, with Sheena Sharp shooting 541 in the concurrent Women's 3x20 badge
match.
There was some very good shooting by the team - it was a pleasure to be able
to help them along the way.
Jim Cole-Hamilton, Team Manager |
| Double win in Army Match |
21st September
2005 |
|
Scotland won both the Prone and 3P matches against
the Army last weekend at Bisley. Bill Brown in particular produced an
outstanding 595 using a borrowed stock - a personal best on the Cooper Range -
despite difficult early morning conditions with bright sunshine in the shooter's
faces and dark targets. In the 3P match Ronnie Sellar had not shot a
full match at 50m since 1999 and broke 1100, while Bill Baird shot a season's
best of 1080 and James shot 1050 in his second outdoor 3P shoot.
The results are available here. |
| Postponement of All-Ranges
Open Meeting & Inter-Region Matches 2004-05 |
9th September
2005 |
|
We regret to announce that the above Open Meeting
and Matches scheduled for Sunday 18th September, 2005, at Denwood TSC, Aberdeen
have been postponed. Entry forms were circulated to all members with the
notice of this year’s Annual General Meeting and until this morning, only 3
individual entries had been received with notice of intent from 4 others by
email. We only had knowledge of 2 regions proposing to enter the
Inter-Region match.
In conjunction with this, other events in the calendar have unfortunately
clashed with this event, creating administrative difficulties. The Annual match
with the Army was confirmed as the same week-end and, after that, the
Commonwealth Shooting Federation (European Division) Championships, i.e.
Mini-Games, originally to be held earlier in the year in Gibraltar were
rescheduled for this week-end, too. This added to the workload on an already
stretched Council for that weekend.
This event is an important of our plans to enhance our services to our
members. Further information on an alternative date for this event will be
issued to members and on the website after the next Council meeting towards the
end of the month. |
| Grand Prix wins for Sinclair,
Jackson and Stirton |
9th September
2005 |
|
Martin Sinclair and Susan Jackson finished their
Three Positions seasons with wins in the SSRA 3P Grand Prix at Denwood last
Saturday. Susan recorded a new Personal Best of 573 for a comfortable win
in the 3x20, and clinched the Women's series in the process. Martin's 1144
was an improvement on the previous weekend, and his victory was never in doubt,
and with Martin taking the maximum points Peter Gray stayed at the top of the
table to clinch the 3x40 series. Neil Stirton produced his best form of
the year to beat Susan Jackson on countback for Class A at the Gagie Open - both
on scores of 591. Ian Thomson captured the Class B event with 590, which
was equalled by Oliver Barron in Class C. Rory McAlpine completed the set,
winning Class D. In the C&D Grand Prix James Paterson pipped Dave Caughey for
first place, but Kay Copland's third place gave her a comfortable win in the
series.
Neil Stirton then went on to record a second consecutive season's best score,
this one 594, to take a one point lead into the final - Angus Jackson having
equalled his Personal Best of 593 for second place, with Martin MacGill third
with 592. There was also a new Personal Best from Beverley Burnside - 589
good enough to take her into the final equal with Susan Jackson and Sheena
Sharp. Very little changed in the final, despite Martin's efforts to
overhaul Angus, and after an excellent final, Neil was declared the winner.
Martin's four points for third place was sufficient to give him the Grand Prix
Series title for the first time, with Jim Cole-Hamilton and Neil Stirton just a
single point behind. |
| Scottish Team for Army Match |
9th September
2005 |
|
The following team will represent Scotland in the
annual match against the Army, which will take place at Bisley on 18th
September:
|
Prone |
Three Positions |
|
Ronnie Sellar
Bill Baird
James Paterson
Ian Thomson |
Jim
Mudie
Bill Brown
Scott Dixon
Robin Honhold |
Ronnie Sellar
Bill Baird
James Paterson |
|
| Scottish Team for CSF(ED) |
9th September
2005 |
|
The following team will represent Scotland in the
CSF(ED) Championships, which will take place on the Isle of Man from 16th to
18th September:
| |
Prone |
Air Rifle |
Three Positions |
|
Men |
Martin MacGill
Bill Copland
David Simpson
Graham Rudd
Steven Campbell (D)
Graham Love (D) |
Robin Law
Graham Rudd |
Graham Rudd
Graham Love |
|
Women |
Sheena Sharp
Kay Copland
Nicola Sammels |
|
Sheena Sharp |
Those shooters marked
(D) are entered in the development matches only. The first names
shooters in each case will compete in the pairs match.
|
| Eight nominated for
Commonwealth Games |
5th September
2005 |
|
Following completion
of the 3P and Prone Grand Prix series over the weekend, the following eight
smallbore and air rifle shooters have been nominated by the SSRA for the 2006
Commonwealth Games:
| |
Prone |
Three Positions |
Air Rifle |
|
Women |
Susan Jackson
Sheena Sharp
Reserve: Emma Cole-Hamilton |
Emma Cole-Hamilton
Susan Jackson
Reserve: Janis Thomson |
Emma Cole-Hamilton
Heather Rudd
|
|
Men |
Martin Sinclair
Neil Stirton
Reserve: Sinclair Bruce |
Graham Rudd
Martin Sinclair
|
Robin Law
Graham Rudd
|
This is the first step in the selection process -
the nominations will be considered, alongside those from shotgun, pistol and
fullbore rifle, by the Scottish Target Shooting Federation later this week,
with a combined shooting team being nominated to the Commonwealth Games
Council for Scotland as a result. CGCS are expected to formally announce
the whole Scottish team on 1st November.
|
| Scottish Final Record for
Jackson |
29th August
2005 |
Susan Jackson recorded
a double victory at the Scottish Grand Prix events at the Denwood Target
Shooting Centre in Aberdeen this weekend, winning the Women's Three Positions
event with a new Scottish Final Record, as well as the Prone Grand Prix which
featured a number of visitors from Wales, England, Northern Ireland and the Isle
of Man.
Susan's score of 570 in the qualification round of the Three Positions was an
equal personal best, and coupled with an excellent final of 99.8, she raised the
Scottish Final record - previously held by Emma Cole-Hamilton - by 0.2 to 669.8.
Sheena Sharp, who only took up the three positions event at the beginning of the
year, recorded a personal best score of 557 for fifth place. In the Men's
event, Graham Rudd produced a new personal best of 1144 to take a huge 12 point
lead over Martin Sinclair into the final. An excellent final of 98.9 from
Martin pulled back a little of the advantage, but the winner was never in doubt.
Martin recovered from his poor performance in the
3x40 to record an excellent 595 first thing the next morning, for a clear
victory in Class A of the Grampian Open, with Martin MacGill second on 592 and
Harry Creevy and Susan Jackson - with a season's best - third on 591. Bill
Hamilton secured Class B with 589, Beverley Burnside second with an equal
personal best of 587 and Eddie Jones one point behind for third. James
Paterson snatched Class C from Dave Caughey on countback, Scott Dixon third,
while Bruce Farquhar secured Class D from Sam Hunter and Gavin Walker.
James Paterson and Kay Copland tied on 390 in the
C&D Grand Prix, James winning on countback, with Dave Caughey third. With
one event left, Kay has an eight-point lead in the series, and only Scott Dixon
can catch her in the final round at Gagie next weekend.
The final of the Grand Prix, shot in particularly
challenging conditions, produced only one score of 590 - from Susan Jackson -
and was good enough to secure a two point lead going into the final over
Watsonian clubmate Martin MacGill, with the Isle of Man's Harry Creevy in third
place. With time getting late Harry declined to shoot - heading south for
his ferry - and an excellent final of 103.7 from Susan extended her lead over
the remainder of the field. Martin retained second place, Griff Morgan of
Wales climbing into third place. With one event remaining, Jim
Cole-Hamilton has opened up a one point lead over Matthew Thomson and Bill
Copland in the Grand Prix series, but with nine shooters mathematically capable
of winning the title, it looks set to be a nail-biting finish to the year next
weekend at Gagie. |
 |
| Three Scots in Wakefield Team |
29th August
2005 |
| Three Scots - Tom
Hodgson, Neil Stirton and Donald McIntosh - have been named in the ten-strong
British team to shoot in the annual Wakefield postal international match this
year. Five of the squad - including Tom - qualified from the 50m
competitions in the Championship Aggregate at the NSRA National Meeting, while
the other five - including Neil and Donald - qualified on the basis of scores
recorded in the first half of the National 50m league. Sinclair Bruce has
been named as reserve, also on the basis of the 50m league. The match will
be shot during the middle week of September, which each shooter firing an
English Match in their home range. |
| Jackson Fifth in County
Champions Match |
21st August
2005 |
| Susan Jackson,
representing Lothian, completed her first full National Rifle Meeting by taking
fifth place in the County Champions Match on the Malcolm Cooper Range at Bisley.
It was disappointing to note that only two other Scottish countries had
representation at this match - Cliff Ogle for Forth & Clyde and Tom Hodgson for
the Scottish Southern Counties. In particular, Scotland's strongest county
- Aberdeenshire - was not represented despite Sheena Sharp - the current holder
of their "Champion of Champions" title - being at Bisley for the week. |
| Jackson and Brown in Roberts
Final |
20th August
2005 |
 |
Susan Jackson and Bill
Brown qualified for the final of the Earl Roberts Long Range British
Championship this afternoon. In challenging conditions Susan was the best
placed at eighth, winning the trophy for top female shooter in the process,
while Bill was 13th.
James Paterson and Robin Honhold qualified for the
BCD "Bobs" final, James winning comfortably with a score that would have placed
him in the top ten of the main final. |
 |
| Home Countries Double for
Scotland |
19th August
2005 |
 |
The Scottish teams in
the Home Countries Prone matches produced a double for the first time since
1949, winning both the Main and Ladies matches with Scottish Record scores in
each match. The main team ran out
convincing winners over England, by a margin of over a point per man, with Wales
and Jersey in third and fourth places respectively. This successful
defence of the Bovril Shield was the first by a Scottish team since 1949.
The Scottish Ladies victory was their first since the win at Bisley in 1991, and
was achieved after a tie-break on better score at 100 yards over England, with
Wales in third place. The results are now available
here. Thanks are due to Cliff
Ogle and Harry Creevy, who wind-coached the Main and Ladies teams in the absence
of Northern Ireland and Isle of Man teams. |
 |
| Two Scottish Wins as Championship Aggregate
Completes |
updated 20th August
2005 |
| Tom Hodgson and Robin Honhold produced Scottish victories in the Championship
Aggregate today, winning Classes A & C respectively. Hodgson's was the
most emphatic, with a win in the Scottish Match helping him to a huge margin of
victory. It originally appeared that James Paterson had won Class B, but a
late challenge from another competitor pushed him down to second place on the
tie-break. Martin MacGill was the highest placed Scot in Class X, with a
solid fourth, while Pat Gray was the best placed in Class D with eleventh.
In the team events, the Lothian team of Bill
Hamilton, Angus & Susan Jackson, Martin MacGill, Andrew Coates and Robin Honhold,
with Cliff Ogle wind coaching, were second in the County Sextette - beating EU
Alumni's 1989 Scottish Record for this course of fire - and Watsonians were third in the Aggregate team event.
With the Aggregate over, the Scottish teams for
the Home Countries prone matches have been finalised, and are:
| Main
W F Brown
A S Bruce
W F
Hamilton
T F
Hodgson
Mrs S M
Jackson
W J Long
M MacGill
D A M
McIntosh
J Mudie
Ms S M Sharp
J
Paterson (Reserve)
M M Mutch (Reserve)
C G De Jonckheere (Capt)
W P Baird (Sec) |
Ladies
Mrs S M Jackson
Miss L D
Martin
Mrs S J
McIntosh
Mrs C A
Newman
Ms S M
Sharp
Miss K L
Nilsen (Reserve)
Mrs M J Melvin (Reserve)
Mrs M J Melvin (Capt)
Mrs P A Gray (Sec) |
The matches will be fired at 4pm tomorrow
afternoon following the first stage of the Roberts and the Astor Inter-County
Club Team Championship. |
| Championship Aggregate Day 2 |
16th August
2005 |
| Light, but extremely
tricky, wind conditions at Bisley produced some changes in the Aggregate, but
the Scots in the hunt remain essentially the same. Martin MacGill remains
the best placed Scot, having climbed to equal fourth place. Tom Hodgson
remains in first place in Class A after picking up second in the first of the
50m competitions, with Bill Baird winning the second competition of the day.
James Paterson has dropped to third place in the Class B agg, but Robin Honhold
remains top in Class C after winning the second of their 100yd competitions.
Pat Gray remains the best placed in Class D, sitting at 19th equal place.
Three of the Scottish ladies present have been
selected for the British "Randle Match" team - Sheena Sharp, Susan Jackson and
Shirley McIntosh, the latter two for the first time. The match will be
fired at 6am on Thursday morning. |
| Championship Aggregate Day 1 |
15th August
2005 |
| After Day 1 of the
Championship Aggregate at Bisley, Bill Hamilton and Martin MacGill are the
highest placed Scots, at equal 10th in Class X. In Class A Tom Hodgson and
Bill Long are lying first and second respectively, with Bill picking up a third
place in the second 100yds competition. James Paterson leads the way in
Class B, with two second places in the 50m competitions. In Class C Robin
Honhold has a firm grip already, with a first and a third in the 50m matches
giving him a considerable margin, while Pat Gray is the highest placed Scot in
Class D with 12th. The second day of the
Aggregate switches the programme around, with Classes X, A & D shooting two 50m
competitions and Classes B & C firing their 100yd competitions. |
| Home Countries 3x40 Victory
at Bisley |
14th August
2005 |
| The Scottish 3P team of
Donald McIntosh, Martin Sinclair and Susan Jackson regained the Home Countries
3P title with a comfortable victory over Wales, with England in third place.
Donald's 1129 was the best of the Scottish scores in the individual match, but
despite being the second best British shooter he was only 6th in the open event.
Graham Rudd won Class B with 1122, while Lothian won the County Team event.
In the Women's 3x20 match the Scottish team of Shirley McIntosh, Susan Jackson
and Janis Thomson were third behind England and Wales, with Shirley's 556 the
best placed at 5th in the individual. Out
on the Century range Neil Stirton was a convincing winner in the weekend
aggregate, and teamed up with Sheena Sharp to win the weekend pairs ahead of
Cliff Ogle and Donald McIntosh. Bon Accord also won the weekend team
event, and there were appearances in the prize lists for Bill Brown, Donald
McIntosh, Cliff Ogle, Sheena Sharp in Class X; John Lynch in Class A; Ally
Aitken in Class B and Robin Honhold in Class C.
Sinclair Bruce and Donald McIntosh have been
seeded into the Scottish team for the Home Countries prone team on Friday 19th
August. The remainder of the team of 10 will be selected from those SSRA
members competing in Classes X, A & B of the Championship Aggregate when it
completes on Thursday afternoon. |
| Scottish Wins at Inter-Region
Match |
14th August
2005 |
| There were wins for the
Scottish teams in the NSRA/Eley Inter-Region Match at Bisley on Friday 12th
August. Susan Jackson and Janis Thomson won the 3x20 pairs, with Susan's
566 the top score on the range. Donald McIntosh and Cliff Ogle repeated
this in the 3x40, with Donald's 1124 the best score of the day. The prone
teams fared less well - Donald McIntosh, Cliff Ogle and Bill Hamilton coming
third, and Susan Jackson taking second in the individual section of the women's
event. |
| Scottish Teams for Home
Countries 3P Matches |
5th August
2005 |
|
The following teams
have been selected to compete in the 3x40 and Women's 3x20 Home Countries
International Matches at the start of the NSRA National Meeting.
| 3x40
Mrs S M Jackson
D A
M McIntosh (Capt)
M
Sinclair
Mrs
J W Thomson (Reserve)
G A
Rudd (Reserve) |
Women's 3x20
Mrs S M Jackson (Capt)
Mrs
S J McIntosh
Mrs
J W Thomson
Mrs
L J Sinclair (Reserve) |
|
| Jackson sole Scottish winner
at 50m Open Championships |
1st August
2005 |
| Susan Jackson won the
Women's Prone at the Scottish 50m Open Championships with a season's best score
of 590 - just one point ahead of England's Sharon Lee and her former
Commonwealth Games partner Shirley McIntosh. Janis Thomson picked up third
in the confined Scottish Championship, while Kay Copland was the top junior with
585, beating many an experienced international shooter in the process.
In the Men's 3x40, England's Chris Hector was a
comfortable winner - his superb standing score of 384 providing him a seven
point lead going into the final despite ongoing problems with his kneeling.
Martin Sinclair took second, and the confined title for a record 7th time, with
a disappointing qualification round of 1137, with Jason Burrage third.
Second and third places in the confined championship went to Graham Rudd and
Simon Clark respectively, with Ken Parr winning the Junior section.
The Women's 3x20 produced another English win -
this time for Leah Brough, who overtook Susan Jackson in the final. Janis
Thomson also gained ground in the final, overhauling Shirley McIntosh for third
place - Jackson, Thomson and McIntosh taking the medals in the confined
championship, and Emma Cole-Hamilton winning the Junior.
The Men's Prone final saw Chris Hector unable to
hold onto the two-point lead that 594 gave him, dropping to third behind fellow
Englishman Neil Davis and Scotland's Simon Clark. Simon therefore became
the first person to win the confined title twice - his first win was in 2001 -
with Martin Sinclair and Gordon Motion second and third respectively. Last
year's winner Matthew Thomson had to settle for the junior title this year. |
| Three Scots in Pershing Team |
27th July
2005 |
| All three of the Scots
in the squad for the Pershing Match in the USA qualified for the final ten
places in the team. Jim Cole-Hamilton and Martin MacGill came through the
final selection process with ease, however Sheena Sharp had to win a late
challenge to gain the 10th place. The team, coached by Donald McIntosh,
were unfortunate not to win the match - equalling the largely professional US
team on gun score, but losing on the tie break (number of central tens, or Xs).
More details of the trip to Camp Perry are available on the team's
Pershing 2005 website. |
| Spaces running low at 50m
ISSF Championships |
22nd July
2005 |
| Spaces at the Scottish
50m (ISSF) Championships, which will held at Denwood on the 30th and 31st of
July are running low. As of this evening, there are a small number of
spaces available in the Men's Prone, Men's 3x40 and Women's 3x20. The
Women's Prone is full. |
| Grand Prix win for Copland |
22nd July
2005 |
| Bill Copland won the
third Prone Grand Prix of 2005. His qualification round of 593 combined
with a solid 103.2 final gave him a comfortable lead over Jim Cole-Hamilton,
with Martin MacGill picking up his first GP medal in third place. There is
now a three-way tie at the top of the points table, with Matthew Thomson, Jim
Cole-Hamilton and Bill Copland all on 12 points.
In the C&D Grand Prix, Scott Dixon was a comfortable
winner with 392, ahead of two young ladies - Kay Copland and Nicola Sammels -
who had so impressed at the Scottish Meeting over the previous days. Kay
retains her lead in the series, with 19 points giving her a four point lead from
Scott. |
| Website for Pershing Match
now online |
22nd July
2005 |
| A new website -
www.pershing2005.org.uk - is now
online, and will bring news and pictures from the British contingent at Camp
Perry in the USA. The team includes four Scots - Sheena Sharp, Martin
MacGill and Jim Cole-Hamilton as shooters and Donald McIntosh as coach. |
| Haig win for Jackson as
Scotland struggle |
11th July
2005 |
| Susan Jackson became the first
woman for 21 years to win the Earl Haig Scottish Championship at the NSRA
Scottish Meeting near Castletown, with a comfortable four point margin over
James Brown and Nicola Sammels - the latter remarkably only fifteen and shooting
in Class D. Susan's win came after a convincing victory in the Class A
aggregate, with only Bill Copland producing a higher score during the week on
his way to winning Class X - Jim Cole-Hamilton picking up the bronze in the
latter. Susan's Watsonians team-mate Beverley Burnside won the Class B
aggregate, with David Simpson third. In Class C Kay Copland was a clear
winner in front of Susie Mackay and Rory MacAlpine, while in Class D Oliver
Barron just pipped Nicola Sammels for the trophy, Finlay Craig getting the
bronze medal. New Scottish records were set in the Aggregate - Bill and
Kay Copland raising their own records for Senior Men and Junior Women
respectively, and Stephen Campbell beating Matthew Thomson's score from last
year for the Junior Men. Susan Jackson just missed out in completing the
set, her score one point lower than that shot by Sheena Sharp last year in Fort
William, but she recorded a new record for Senior Women in the Scottish Match
during the Haig final, as did Nicola Sammels for Junior Women.
In the club team competitions, Bon Accord won the
Pullar Targe for the Scottish 50m team on the tie-break from Callander, with the
latter overturning the tables to win the ICI trophy for the Scottish 100yd team
by three points from the Aberdeen club. Wick Old Stagers won the Forteviot
trophy for the open 50m team, with Perth winning the Sharpshooters and
Aberdeenshire winning the County Sextette.
With a number of regular members of the team away
at the European Championships, the Scottish team narrowly lost to England in the
main international match, but first caps were awarded to David Simpson and Ian
Thomson, with John Sinclair making an appearance for the first time since 1980.
The Scottish ladies team were comprehensively beaten once more, extending
England's winning run to 19 consecutive years. |
 |
| Cole-Hamilton reaches
European Championship Final |
11th July
2005 |
| Emma Cole-Hamilton reached the
final of the Junior Women's 3x20 at the European Championships in Belgrade last
week. A score of 571, including the only 100 on the entire range, was just
a point off her personal best and Scottish junior record, and took her into the
final eight in seventh place, where she remained on completion of the additional
ten shots. Matthew Thomson also came close
to a final appearance, being counted out of the last eight in the Junior Men's
Prone with a score of 589. Sheena Sharp was the best of the seniors
present, with 586 for 14th place in the Women's Prone. |
 |
| New website for NSRA Scottish
Meeting |
23rd June
2005 |
| A new website has been
setup especially for this year's NSRA Scottish Meeting, which is to be held in
Caithness in a few days time. The site,
www.caithness-scottish.org.uk,
is now live. |
| Equal Record for Rudd in
Munich |
22nd June
2005 |
| Competing at the ISSF
World Cup in Munich, Heather Rudd equalled her Scottish Junior Record of 389
with the Air Rifle. |
| Angus win for Jackson |
8th June
2005 |
| Following on from Susan
Jackson's success in France, her husband Angus won Class A at the Angus Open
last weekend, with a new personal best of 593 - frustratingly one point short of
equalling Susan's PB of 594. Ian Thomson won Class B comfortably, but
James Paterson had to rely on countback to take Class C. Class D saw some
excellent shooting from Kay Copland, who won by a significant margin, and took
the junior medal well ahead of Scottish 'A' squad member Matthew Thomson.
Matthew wasn't finished however, and entered the
final of the Grand Prix tied with father Ian on 592, with Eddie Jones just a
single point behind. A steady final from Matthew, with only one shot in
the nine ring, was enough to pip Ian for the Gold, with Cliff Ogle producing a
remarkable final of 105.8 to charge from 7th to 3rd. The C&D Grand Prix
saw some more good shooting, with another young lady - Nicola Sammels -
producing an excellent performance to take the Gold from Scott Dixon - competing
in his first SSRA Grand Prix event - and Kay Copland. |
| Prone Medals for Scots at the
French Masters |
4th June
2005 |
| The small Scottish
contingent at the French Masters in Bully-les-Mines produced two medals in the
prone events. The team of Susan Jackson, Sheena Sharp and Emma
Cole-Hamilton picked up the bronze in the team event, narrowly beating Germany
by one point. All three shooters then qualified for the Olympic final,
with an excellent performance in very trying conditions from Susan pulling her
up from 5th to 2nd - the shooter who won having recently returned from winning
the Men's Prone at the World Cup in Fort Benning, USA with a perfect score of
600. The Masters completes tomorrow with the qualification round and final
of the Three Positions match, with both Emma and Susan safely through the
elimination process. |
| Scots selected for European
Championships |
4th June
2005 |
| Five Scots have been
included in the British team for the European Cartridge Championships at the
beginning of July. Neil Stirton and Sinclair Bruce form two thirds of the
Men's Prone team, with Matthew Thomson the only shooter selected for the Junior
Men's Prone. Sheena Sharp is selected for the Women's Prone team, with
Emma Cole-Hamilton the only shooter selected for the Junior Women's Prone and
3x20. |
| Hampshire win for Sinclair |
4th June
2005 |
| Martin Sinclair won the
Hampshire prone open at Headley Park two weeks ago, his score of 593 good enough
for a two point lead. Martin was second in the Hampshire 3x40 the previous
day at Basingstoke, with Janis Thomson second in the 3x20 with her best score -
572 - in two years. |
| Scots selected for World Cups |
4th June
2005 |
| A number of Scottish
Squad members will be representing Great Britain at the forthcoming World Cup
matches in Munich and Milan. Sinclair Bruce and Neil Stirton compete in
the Prone at both matches, and will be joined in Milan by Martin Sinclair, who
will take part in the Men's Three Positions and Prone (MQS). Emma
Cole-Hamilton will be at Munich only, where she shoots in the Women's Three
Positions and Air Rifle (MQS). Susan Jackson will shoot in the Women's
Three Positions at both matches (MQS in Munich) and Heather Rudd in the Air
Rifle at both (MQS on both occasions). In some cases these selections are
as a result of the nomination of Scottish Lottery Funded shooters to fill the
MQS slots. |
| Equal Scottish Record in
Czech Republic |
7th May
2005 |
| Sheena Sharp earned an
equal share in the Scottish Women's Prone record, with 594 at the Grand Prix of
Liberation in Plzen, CZE. This score - a new Personal Best by one point -
was good enough for fourth place in the Women's prone match. |
| Silver for Sinclair at
English Open |
2nd May
2005 |
| Martin Sinclair was the
only Scottish medal winner at the English Open Championships at Bisley this
weekend, picking up Silver in the 3x40. Susan Jackson was best placed in
the Women's Prone at 4th, with Simon Clark setting a new Personal Best of 594 on
his way to 5th place in the Men's Prone. Emma Cole-Hamilton and Graham
Rudd were 6th in the Women's 3x20 and Men's Air Rifle respectively, with Heather
Rudd 7th in the Women's Air Rifle. |
| Winning return for Alasdair
Horne |
2nd May
2005 |
| After an absence of
some years, Alasdair Horne had a winning return to outdoor shooting with a win
in the first SSRA Prone Grand Prix of 2005. An excellent final of 104.6 in
addition to his qualification round of 591 pulled him clear of the field,
overhauling pre-final leader Jim Cole-Hamilton, with Hugh Simpson taking third
place. Earlier in the day Matthew Thomson won Class A of the Denwood Open
with a score of 591, with father Ian winning Class B. Lawrence Cooper won
Class C, combining with Bruce McIntosh to win the Pairs, while Sam Hunter won
Class D. Full results are available
here. |
| 50m Open Classifications |
2nd May
2005 |
| The SSRA 50m prone
classifications, which will be applied at all of the Prone Grand Prix events,
are now available. Click here to view
them. |
| Summer Entry Forms |
28th April
2005 |
| Entry forms for the
various SSRA Grand Prix and Championship events were recently sent out to
members and other interested parties, but unfortunately the entry form for the
Grampian Open & Prone GP IV was omitted in error. In addition, the SSRA
subscription rate on some forms was incorrect. The Association would like
to apologise for those errors, and corrected entry forms are now available from
the Executive Officer. |
| Scottish Teams for
International Matches |
18th April
2005 |
| Scottish teams have
been entered in two International Matches on mainland Europe in the next few
weeks. Susan Jackson, Sheena Sharp, Janis Thomson, Gordon Motion and Ken
Silver will take part in the Grand Prix of Liberation in Plzen, CZE, from 4th -
8th May. Susan and Sheena will then be joined by Emma Cole-Hamilton at the
French Masters, which will take place in Bully-les-Mines, FRA, from 2nd - 5th
June. |
| Motion & Bon Accord
repeat Scottish Championship wins at British Short Range Championships |
17th April
2005 |
| Gordon Motion
reproduced the form that won him the Daily Record just four weeks ago,
winning the NSRA's British Short Range Prone Championship today at Perth.
A score of 395 was enough to secure him a place in a four-way tie shoot,
which also included fellow Scottish A-Squad members Neil Stirton and Ken
Silver, and a perfect 100 in the tie-break secured the final for the
Callander shooter. In the team event,
it was an all Scottish final, with Bon Accord beating Watsonians by three
points for the British Team of Six Championship, adding to the British Team
of Eight and Division One of the National Short Range league that the club
had already secured over the winter season. |
| Grand Prix Entry Forms
Available |
17th April
2005 |
| Entry forms for the
Prone and Three Positions Grand Prix events, the 50m Championships and
Freuchie are now available from Anne Hamilton - please email her on
executive@ssra.co.uk if you would
like to receive a set. |
| Winter Competitions
Completed |
17th April
2005 |
| The SSRA individual
winter competitions are now complete, with David Bremner winning the
Association Silver Medal with a score of 299 in the final round of the Medal
& Salvers competition, winning Class A in the process. Martin Macgill
won Class B, with Neil McMillan and Oliver Barron winning Classes C and D
respectively. The Junior Salver went to Kay Copland, with Cyril De
Jonckheere winning the Veteran's. A very consistent shoot from Rory McAlpine produced a win in the CanDicap, with Shirley McIntosh winning the
Short Range 3P Championship. |
| Sterling Silver Medals to
be won at the Balerno & Currie Open Shoot |
31st March
2005 |
| Balerno &
Currie Rifle Club will be holding their Open Shoot this weekend (2nd - 3rd
April). New for this year is the introduction of our own specially minted
open shoot medals and to commemorate B&C's 60th anniversary we have
had 4 of the new medals struck in Sterling Silver, one for each class
winner, a unique and valuable prize I think you will agree. Entries
can be made on the day and details run from 10am until 5.45pm,
refreshments are also available. For more information please email -
secretary@bcrconline.co.uk. |
| NSRA Scottish
Championship wins for Motion and Bon Accord |
31st March
2005 |
|
Gordon Motion won
the NSRA Scottish Short Range Championship for the Daily Record Challenge
Bowl at Denwood on the 20th of March. A score of 397 was enough to
see off Eddie Jones and Jim Cole-Hamilton, second and third respectively
with 395.
In the Scottish
Cup, Dumfries saw off Halkirk in the one semi-final, while Bon Accord
required countback to beat Watsonians. The final was relatively
close, with Bon Accord's 1169 good enough to beat Dumfries' 1163. |
| Scottish Teams for North
Island, New Zealand Matches |
31st March
2005 |
|
The Scottish teams
which shot in the annual postal international match against North Island,
New Zealand were as follows:
|
Main Team |
|
Gordon
Motion
Tom
Hodgson
Bill
Hamilton
Tim
Kidner
Bill
Copland |
Eddie
Jones
John
Sinclair
Jim
Cole-Hamilton
Matthew
Thomson
David
Bremner |
Charles
Allan
James
Brown
Mike
Baillie-Hamilton
Kay
Copland
Ken
Silver |
|
|
Junior Team |
|
Matthew
Thomson
Kay
Copland
Robin
Honhold
Nicola
Sammels
Oliver
Barron |
| Reserves: |
Rory
McAlpine
Kyle
Mackay-Strachan |
|
|
|
| Silver Medal at
Commonwealth Championships for Sinclair & Stirton |
31st March
2005 |
|
The Commonwealth
Championships in Australia produced three medals for Scotland, one of
which came from Martin Sinclair and Neil Stirton in the Men's Prone Pairs
- the first time Scotland has ever won a medal in Men's Prone at these
championships. There were also near misses for Neil Stirton - 4th by
0.2 - and Sheena Sharp - 4th on countback - in the Men's and Women's Prone
Individual matches respectively.
Results and
photographs are available on the STSF
website. |
 |
| Air Rifle & Pistol
Grand Prix Series Completed |
31st March
2005 |
|
The 2004/5 Air
Rifle & Pistol Grand Prix Series are now complete, with wins for Robin
Law and Alan Ritchie in the final events, with both men winning their
respective series. |
| Commonwealth
Championships underway |
11th March
2005 |
|
The fifth
Commonwealth Championships are now underway in Melbourne Australia.
Updates will be provided on the STSF
website as often as possible. |
| Speedway wins for Bill
Hamilton and Kay Copland |
11th March
2005 |
|
Bill Hamilton won
the SSRA's Speedway Championship at Callander last Sunday, just ahead of
Tim Kidner and Gordon Motion, with a gun score of 987 ex 1000. On
Saturday, Kay Copland won the C&D Speedway with an excellent gun score
of 789 ex 800, ahead of Robin Honhold and Nicola Sammels. |
| British Championship for
Rudd |
28th February
2005 |
|
Heather Rudd
continued her recent run of excellent results, winning the British Junior
Women's Air Rifle Championship at Bisley yesterday, setting a new Scottish
Junior Record of 389 in the process. Defending champion Emma
Cole-Hamilton picked up third place in the same event. In the Senior
Men's Championship, Graham Rudd was fourth, with Robin Law sixth.
Heather also won Class A of the Aggregate, and the British Universities
Championship, while Robin won the ASI/Feinwerkbau event.
The Scottish teams
in the Home Countries Internationals did not fare particularly well,
coming second in the main match and third in the ladies match:
|
Main
International |
| Heather Rudd |
583 |
| Robin Law |
573 |
| Emma Cole-Hamilton |
568 |
| Scotland Total |
1724 |
| England |
1765 |
| Wales |
1709 |
|
|
Ladies
International |
| Heather Rudd |
389 |
| Emma Cole-Hamilton |
380 |
| Pat Gray |
334 |
| Scotland Total |
1103 |
| England |
1173 |
| Wales |
1135 |
|
|
 |
| Withdrawals from CSF Team |
28th February
2005 |
|
There have been
two changes to the team attending the CSF Championships in
Melbourne. Graham Rudd is currently on placement in France as part
of his degree course, and is not able to secure the necessary time off
without jeopardising his course. David Rattray has also withdrawn,
and as a result Scotland will have no competitors in the Men's Air Rifle
event. |
| Junior Air Rifle Records
fall to Rudd |
22nd February
2005 |
|
Heather Rudd
racked up the Scottish Junior Women's Air Rifle records on Sunday, adding
a massive 6.4 points to the record for the qualification round plus final,
with scores of 388 & 102.1. Qualifying for the Grand Prix final
in equal first place a score of 581, Heather and Robin Law were still tied
going into the last shot, but an excellent score of 10.7 from Heather
wasn't enough, Robin sneaking a win with a 10.8 to finish! This
extended Robin's unbeaten record, and secured the Grand Prix series for an
eleventh consecutive year. Alan Ritchie continued a good run of form
to win the Air Pistol event, but still trails Mark Joyce in the series,
with all to play for in the final match at Glenrothes next month. |
| 100th Cap for Law |
15th February
2005 |
|
Robin Law crossed
a quite remarkable boundary at the Intershoot international match last
week, becoming the first Scottish smallbore/air rifle shooter to reach a
total of 100 full international appearances for Scotland. In a
career spanning nearly 25 years, Robin has represented Scotland all over
the world, winning Bronze medals at each of the 1990, 1994 & 1998
Commonwealth Games. Caps have been earned in the Air, Three
Positions and Prone events. It is unlikely that this remarkable
achievement will be superseded for many years, as the next most capped
shooter is Cyril De Jonckheere with a relatively paltry 63 appearances! |
 |
| Croydon wins Scottish
Open |
24th January
2005 |
|
John Croydon of
Wales won the Scottish Open Air Rifle Championship yesterday at
Tulliallan. John came out on top after a close final, which John,
David Rattray and Robin Law entered with equal scores of 581, with fourth
placed Graham Rudd only a point behind. David Rattray retained the
Scottish Championship, with the Junior and Ladies events being won by
Heather Rudd, setting a number of new Scottish Junior records in the
process. |
 |
| Ritchie & Law on top
once more |
20th January
2005 |
|
A familiar pattern
was repeated at the third Air Rifle & Pistol Grand Prix of the winter,
with Robin Law winning the Rifle event comfortably and Alan Ritchie doing
the same in the Air Pistol - the latter with an excellent score of 576. |
| 50th Anniversary for
Edinburgh University Rifle Club |
19th January
2005 |
|
Edinburgh
University Rifle Club is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
To mark the occasion, a special 50th anniversary open shoot is being
organised for Sunday the 27th of February, 2005. There will also be
a buffet with prize giving in Teviot Row student union. The club
would like to extend a warm invitation to all members past and present,
other universities and anyone else wishing to participate.
Anybody wishing
further details, please contact T.R.Bamford@sms.ed.ac.uk. |
 |
| Second Scottish Record
for Forth & Clyde |
19th January
2005 |
|
Having raised the
Scottish record in round one of the Inter-County Air Rifle League, the
Forth & Clyde county team of Robin Law, Tricia Littlechild, Donald
& Shirley McIntosh and Cliff Ogle have added a further five points to
their score in round two. |
| Bronze Medal &
Scottish Records for Cole-Hamilton in Luxembourg |
17th January
2005 |
| Emma Cole-Hamilton started 2005
with a bronze medal in the Junior Women's Air Rifle on the first day of
the RIAC international match in Luxembourg. An equal season's best
of 383 was enough to take her into the final in third place, which she
managed to hang onto despite only firing three tens in the final.
The third day of the match then saw Emma
produce a new personal best and new Scottish junior record of 386, taking
her into the final in second place. A steady start, and some poor
shooting around her, saw her take the lead for three shots, however Emma
struggled over the second half of the final and was overhauled by a number
of the other competitors, ending up 6th - only 0.9 separating the shooters
in 3rd to 6th place. |
 |
| Scottish Team for
Intershoot |
17th January
2005 |
| A small Scottish
team of Graham Rudd and Robin Law has been entered in the annual
"Intershoot" Airgun international, held in the Netherlands at
the beginning of February. |
|
Scottish Smallbore Rifle Association 
