Graham Rudd extended his lead in the Air Rifle Grand Prix series, recording a Personal Best of 590 in the qualification round and raising the Scottish Final record to 693.9 in the process. In a repeat of the November event, the Air Pistol was won by Graham's partner Jennifer Pearson.
Bon Accord have raised the Scottish and British Record score for the indoor prone Team of Six to 1193, in round 1 of the NSRA's News of the World competition.
The announcement of Glasgow winning the bid for the 2014 Commonwealth Games will provide opportunities for all sports. The first thought is always for the athletes who will be representing their country in front of a home crowd and these athletes will have a massive amount of preparation during the next 7 years.
The athletes represent only a part of the opportunities for the future. During the next few years the development of sport will take on a much higher profile and that should include finance being available for facilities and coaching. The SSRA will be deeply involved through the STSF to ensure that shooting gets a fair share of the resources available. We cannot afford to miss this opportunity to develop our sport.
There will be opportunities for individuals to be involved apart from the competitors. Events like the Commonwealth Games require many volunteers to support the events and there will be opportunities for people to help in all aspects of the organisation. Although it seems to be a long way off some of the posts in shooting like ISSF Judge or Range Officer require qualifications and experience which take several years to accomplish. Anyone interested in planning ahead should note their interest with an SSRA Council Member, so that appropriate training can be planned in good time.
Ian Thomson
At the recent Commonwealth Games Federation assembly in Sri Lanka, a number of changes to the Shooting programme at the Commonwealth Games were agreed. As a result, all of the non-Olympic events and all of the Pairs matches, other than Fullbore Rifle, will be removed from the programme with effect from 2014. In terms of the SSRA, this means all of our Pairs matches, along with the Individual Women's Prone competition - an event in which Scotland is the most successful at the Commonwealth Games - will be removed from the programme just in time for Scotland to be hosting the Games in Glasgow. SSRA will work with our colleagues within Scottish Target Shooting, and elsewhere in the Commonwealth family, to appeal this decision.
The smallbore rifle events for the 2010 Games remain unchanged.
Congratulations to the Caithness county team, who have become the first Scottish county to ever win the NSRA's BSA Cup - the indoor county team championship. A record score of 2362 ex 2400 gave them an eight point lead over Lothian.
The Watsonian Rifle Club is holding its annual Open Meeting again this year at its range in Edinburgh. The first day was yesterday, Sunday 25th November, and it continues next weekend - Saturday & Sunday 1st & 2nd December. There are five Classes with Ladies, Veterans and 3 levels of Junior competitions - everyone is welcome. Email here for further information and to request an entry form.
Graham Rudd won the first Air Rifle Grand Prix of the winter, with a Personal Best of 589 at Callander yesterday. Emma Cole-Hamilton also recorded a PB, her 586 beating the Scottish Women's Record over sixty shots, but was unable to stay for the final, leaving Graham with a comfortable lead before firing the additional ten shots. Graham's partner Jen Pearson had a similarly comfortable victory in the Air Pistol, taking a fifteen point lead into the final. Results are available here.
At the AGM in July Anne Hamilton resigned from the post of Executive Officer, but has continued as a Council Member. During the Meeting there were no nominations for the post and it remains vacant. The job is currently being shared by members of the Council but this cannot continue longer term.
The main function of the Executive Officer is the administration of the Association - arranging Council and AGM Meetings, issuing membership and entry forms, monitoring the membership database and sorting out new members. There are also opportunities to represent the SSRA at various levels such as the STSF where it is important that our opinion is voiced.
It is not possible to list all the tasks in a short announcement so if you are interested in the role or know of any suitable candidate please contact Ian Thomson at chairman@ssra.co.uk for more information.
Scotland have recorded a double win in the annual postal match with the North Island of New Zealand. The senior team of fifteen were led home by Bill Copland, top scorer with 399, with Nikki Sammels one point behind, top scorer in the Junior team. The results are available here, and the complete history of the match here.
The decision on the host city for the 2014 Commonwealth Games will be taken on the 9th of November at a meeting in Sri Lanka. The announcement is expected to be made live on television, please keep an eye o the website and we will advise on the timing as soon as the information is available.
Following a meeting of the SSRA Selection Committee on 22nd September, we are pleased to announce revised A, Under-25, B and Under-21 Squads for season 2007/8. Details can be found on the Squads & Athletes page.
Kay Copland struck Gold for Scotland in Jersey today, winning the Women's Prone five points ahead of Beverley Burnside, with Bev's Northern Ireland team-mate Louise Aiken taking third place. Scott Dixon took Silver for Scotland in the Men's Prone, behind Robert Barclay of Northern Ireland, and ahead of John Croydon of Wales.
Jennifer McIntosh has got the Scottish team at the CSF(ED) Championships off to a good start, taking Silver in the Women's Air Rifle behind of GBR Pathway shooter Helouise Manasco of Gibraltar. A qualifying round of 378 equalled her Personal Best and took the Scot into the final in second place, to which she added 99.8 to clinch the medal.
Later in the day Jennifer teamed up with Kay Copland to take Silver in the Women's Prone Pairs behind Northern Ireland's pair of Louise Aiken and Beverley Burnside. Kay was top individual scorer in the match, with a solid 590. Not to be outdone, the Men's Pair of James Paterson and James Henderson have also taken second in their pairs match, behind the very experienced Northern Ireland pair of Alan Lewis and Don Baker, both veterans of Commonwealth Games. The Scottish Development pair of Ollie Barron and Rory McAlpine outscored the main Scottish pair by one point, Ollie top score on the range with 591.
The Championships continue tomorrow with the Prone individual matches.
Entry forms for the SSRA individual membership, club affiliation, short range prone team league, individual winter postal competitions, 10m Air Rifle and Pistol Grand Prix, 10m Air Rifle Championships and the All Ranges/Inter-Region matches are now available - please contact competitions@ssra.co.uk if you have wish to receive a copy and have not already done so. The Calendar has been updated to show the dates of all the SSRA Grand Prix, Championship and other matches to be held in 2007/8, although a few are yet to be confirmed.
This year sees a change in the Grand Prix series, with Grand Prix points being available to non-members, including those not eligible to represent Scotland. Points for the Air Rifle and Pistol events will continue to be awarded to the top six placed shooters, subject to them contesting the ISSF final. For the smallbore events in the summer, points will be awarded to the top eight rather than the top six shooters, again subject to them contesting the final. Points awarded will be 12, 9, 7, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 for 1st to 8th respectively.
Members past, present and (hopefully) future are reminded that individual membership of this Association is a condition of selection to all Scottish representative teams.
Eight Scottish rifle shooters have been selected as part of a thirteen strong Scottish team to compete in the Commonwealth Shooting Federation (European Division) Championships at the end of September on Jersey:
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The athletes identified with (D) will compete in the development matches.
Unfortunately the Three Positions events have been cancelled.
The final round of the Prone Grand Prix series was completed today at Gagie, on the outskirts of Dundee, with both the Open and Class C&D Grand Prix Series going to the Thomson family. Despite missing out on the event, U21 World Champion Matthew Thomson remained on top of the main table, with none of those in a position to make a final leapfrog past him able to secure the win that would have earned them sufficient points. In the C&D series Robin Thomson - Matthew's uncle - secured the title convincingly, second place today giving him an eight point lead ahead of Eddie Jones.
The Gagie Grand Prix itself was a very close run affair, with Donald McIntosh and Alasdair Horne leading the way into the final with 594, ahead of Ollie Barron on 593 and Martin MacGill on 592. The lead changed hands a number of times over the final ten shots, Donald narrowly edging ahead of Alasdair at the finish, 103.3 to 103.0, with David Cummings moving past Ollie and Martin to secure the bronze.
Douglas Allan was top score in the C&D Grand Prix, beating Robin Thomson on countback, while Mary Melvin took third place ahead of Gregor Bremner, again on countback.
Earlier in the day, Sheena Sharp had recorded the top score of the competition, with 595 to win Class A in the Gagie Open ahead of Alasdair Horne and Cyril De Jonckheere. Class B went to Ian Thomson - Matthew's Dad and Robin's brother - with an excellent 200 finish to his 590, Mike Ozmond and Bill Vaughan taking second and third respectively. Robin Thomson took Class C ahead of Mary Melvin, with Bruce McIntosh in third place, while Douglas Allan made it two from two to win Class D ahead of Gordon Buchan and Fraser Cheetham.
The SSRA Three Positions Grand Prix series came to and end on a warm and sunny day at Denwood today. Donald McIntosh was unchallenged in the 3x40 match, and combined with last weekend's win takes the series, while Susan Jackson won the 3x20 ahead of Sheena Sharp, Sheena winning the series.
SSRA will be running an NSRA Club Instructors course for Prone over two days 22-23rd September 2007 at Portlethen Rifle Club in Aberdeen. Exact times and costs to be confirmed, anyone interested please contact development@ssra.co.uk.
SSRA and SSCA regret that the combined Grand Prix and Field Day competition planned for the week-end following the NSRA Scottish meeting at the start of July, which was postponed because of ground conditions, will not be rescheduled as the possible venues at Lauder remain in a condition which is not usable due to the height of the water table on land adjacent to the River Leader.
SSRA and SSCA would like to thanks all those who sent in an entry and appreciate your patience while another date and venue were sought. All entrants will be contacted to arrange cancellation of cheques/return of entry fees.
Two Scottish International Records were raised today at the Grampian Open & SSRA Grand Prix held at Denwood. Firstly, Sheena Sharp raised the Women's 50m Prone record by two points to 596, just one point off the British Record. The previous record of 594 was shared by three of Scotland's Commonwealth Games Gold Medallists - Susan Jackson, Shirley McIntosh and Sheena Sharp - along with the rapidly improving Kay Copland. It was initially set by Susan (then Susan Bell) in May 1998, and subsequently equalled by Susan (twice), Shirley, Sheena (twice) and, most recently, Kay.
Matthew Thomson set the second record of the day, combining an excellent qualification round of 597 with a final of 104.8 to set a new Scottish Final Record of 701.8, 0.9 ahead of the previous record shot five years earlier by Jim Cole-Hamilton. These scores took Gold and Silver in the Grand Prix, with Jim Cole-Hamilton taking the Bronze.
The Scottish Junior team of Andrew Laurie, Rory McAlpine and Nikki Sammels made it two out of two this year, with victory in their Home Countries match at Bisley. The Main and Ladies teams were less successful, both coming third behind England and Wales. The results of the Home Countries International can be found here.
In the Individual competitions, there were a number of successes for the small Scottish contingent who attended the meeting, including:
Grand
Aggregate
Comp 1, Class A - Mel Mutch; Class C - Finlay Craig; Class D - Andrew Laurie Comp 2, Class X - Jon Latimer. Comp 3, Class D - Andrew Laurie Comp 4, Class D - Andrew Laurie Comp 5, Class D - Andrew Laurie 50m Aggregate, Leading Junior - Nicola Sammels Grand Aggregate, Class A - Mel Mutch 2nd; Class B - Nikki Sammels 2nd; Class D - Andrew Laurie 1st; Leading Woman - Sheena Sharp Aggregate of Scottish and Bisley Aggregates - Class A, Nikki Sammels |
Weekend
Aggregate
Class A - Mel Mutch 2nd, Dave Lumsden 4th Class B - Nikki Sammels 2nd Class D - Andrew Laurie 1st |
Miscellaneous
News of the World - Mel Mutch 2nd Chas R E Bell - Donald McIntosh 2nd, Mel Mutch 3rd Centenary - Class C Gordon Cox Pershing Match Supporters - Mel Mutch Junior Development Fund - Ian Thomson Junior Championship - Ian McDougall 3rd Women's Championship - Sheena Sharp 2nd Club Pairs: Donald McIntosh & Cliff Ogle |
British
Championships
3x40 Championship - Graham Rudd 7th, Brian Inglis 9th Prone Championship - Donald McIntosh 6th, Tom Hodgson 20th; Nikki Sammels - Leading Junior; Donald McIntosh Second Stage Winner |
The following teams from Scotland will take part in the Home Countries Prone Matches at Bisley later this afternoon:
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Congratulations to James Henderson, Nikki Sammels and Brian Ingles for qualifying for the main team for the first time, to Jennifer McIntosh and Sarah Bates for qualifying for the Ladies Team for the first time, and to Andrew Laurie for qualifying to for junior team for the first time. SSRA Member Jon Latimer also earns his first cap for England.
Earlier this week, the Scottish Team in the Home Countries 3x40 International Match came a rather disappointing second to England, with Wales in third place.
The Scottish team of Gordon Buchan, Robin Honhold and Rory McAlpine were third in the Men's Prone Team at the NSRA Junior International at Bisley, one point behind second placed South Africa, with Great Britain one further point ahead. Gordon also qualified for the individual final, and was unfortunate to finish in fourth place. Nikki Sammels and Jennifer McIntosh were sixth in the Women's Prone and Women's Air Rifle matches respectively.
The following team will represent Scotland in the Home Countries Three Positions Match at Bisley this coming Saturday:
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We are unable to field a team in the Women's Three Positions Match.
Nine Scottish rifle shooters have been selected to compete in the NSRA's Inter-Region Match at Bisley next Friday:
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Six Scottish junior rifle shooters have been selected as part of a nine-strong Scottish team to compete at the NSRA's Junior International Match at Bisley next week:
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Alan Lewis lifted the Scottish Open Men's Prone title today at Denwood, with Sinclair Bruce and Dave Phelps taking second and third respectively. Sinclair, as top Scot, won the confined Scottish title ahead of Matthew Thomson and Angus Jackson. The Women's Three Positions title was won by Sian Corish, with Sharon Lee and Emma Cole-Hamilton second and third, Emma winning the confined title from Susan Jackson. Full results are now available on the Domestic Results page.
Martin Sinclair retained the Men's Three Positions title at the Scottish 50m Championships in Aberdeen, with Chris Hector and James Huckle second and third. Emma Cole-Hamilton won the Women's Prone with a personal best score of 592, with Susan Jackson and Sheena Sharp second and third. Full results will be added once the event completes with the Men's Prone and Women's Three Positions tomorrow.
Jon Hammond earned a Quota Place in the Men's Prone for Great Britain at the Beijing Olympics, with fourth place in the Men's Prone at the European Championships in Granada. A score of 597 + 103.0 was a personal best for the former Junior World Champion, and is the only Quota held by GBR in a rifle event. More information available on the British Shooting website.
All three Scottish teams won in their matches in the Home Countries Internationals at the NSRA Scottish Meeting in Lauder. With weather conditions deteriorating, the match was changed to 40 shots at 50m rather than a Dewar course. The Scottish Main team of Sinclair Bruce, Jim Cole-Hamilton, Kay Copland, Bill Copland, Susan Jackson, Cyril De Jonckheere, Hugh Simpson, James Paterson, Bill Vaughan and Matt Thomson were comfortable winners over England and Northern Ireland - Wales having withdrawn in the face of the weather
The Ladies team of Susan, Kay, Sheena Sharp, Emma Cole-Hamilton and Nikki Sammels became the first Scottish women's team to successfully defend the match since 1982.
Finally, the Junior team of Kay, Nikki and Rory McAlpine sneaked a victory over Northern Ireland in the first Junior International in Scotland since 2000. Details of the teams and scores can be found here.In the individual matches, Jim Cole-Hamilton won the Freuchie and also the Haig, the latter ahead of James Paterson and Sheena Sharp, while Bill Copland won the Class X Aggregate and Hugh Simpson the Class X Unsquadded Aggregate. A fuller report, and photos, will be added within the next few days.
Jim Cole-Hamilton won the SSRA's Freuchie competition, with the Sgian Subh in Classes C&D going to Fraser Cheetham.
The SSCA/SSRA open meeting, which was scheduled for this coming weekend, has been cancelled. A combination of the current state of the range at Lauder and the weather forecast makes it impossible to guarantee that the competition can go ahead. The event may be rescheduled for the autumn, more information will be published as soon as possible.
The SSRA are delighted to announce the introduction of a Hall of Fame, which recognises the achievements of some of Scotland's most successful smallbore rifle shooters. Follow the link to find out all about it!
Three Scots - Emma Cole-Hamilton, James Paterson and Matthew Thomson have been selected for the British Universities team that will attend the World University Games in Bangkok in August of this year. Emma will take part in all three rifle events, while James and Matt will shoot in the Prone. More details are available here.
Scottish shooters won medals in three of the four events contested at this weekend's British International 50m Championships at Bisley. Emma Cole-Hamilton was second in the Women's 3x20, moving up from third place in the final. James Paterson was one of four Scots to contest the Men's Prone final, an excellent qualification round of 593 giving him the lead into the final, but he was unable to hold onto this, ending up in second, with Martin MacGill, Neil Stirton and Martin Sinclair 5th, 7th and 8th respectively. Oliver Barron was the highest placed junior, a steady weekend's shooting earning him 15th place. Graham Rudd took third place in the Men's 3x40, with Martin Sinclair 4th and Brian Inglis 6th. The Women's Prone was less successful, Sheena Sharp the best placed with 5th.
Five Scottish rifle shooters have been included in the British team for the European Championships next month. Matt Thomson and Jon Hammond have been selected for the Men's Prone, with Jon the sole British representative in the Men's Three Positions. Sheena Sharp starts in the Women's Prone, with Kay Copland and Nikki Sammels making their full GB debut in the Junior Women's Prone. Full details are available here.
Andrew Coates has resigned from the Scottish A squad for personal reasons, with immediate effect.
Kay Copland won the silver medal in the Women's Prone at the Shooting Hopes international match in Pilsen today, her score of 594 smashing the Scottish Junior International record by four points and equalling the senior version. Nikki Sammels also picked up a silver medal, in the Women's Prone Team alongside Sian Corish and Hannah Pugsley.
Yesterday saw a day of excellent shooting at the second event in the SSRA Grand Prix series. James Henderson set a new Personal Best of 595 to win Class A, beating Alasdair Horne and Sinclair Bruce on countback. The first stunning performance of the day came in Class B, where Nikki Sammels added seven points to the Scottish Junior and three points to the Scottish Senior Women's Prone recorded with a fantastic 597, leaving Scott Dixon trailing in second with 590 and Patrick Jess third with 588. Roger Esson took Class C from Jon Malone on countback also, with Robin Thomson a point behind, while Eddie Jones won Class D from Ron Nilsen and Simon Batchelor.
The second performance of the day came from Matthew Thomson, only just back from a frustrating World Cup match in Munich, who equalled the Scottish Senior Men's record of 598 to take a six point lead into the final ahead of Scott Dixon, with Sheena Sharp and Nikki Sammels one further point behind on 591. Some excellent scores in the final saw Matthew a comfortable winner, with Scott managing to hold onto second just 0.1 ahead of Sheena. The C&D Grand Prix final saw Jon Malone lose out on countback once more - this time to Eddie Jones - with Robin Thomson third once more.
The second Three Positions match of the year was held at Denwood the day before, with Graham Rudd winning the 3x40, ahead of Geof McHugh and Sinclair Bruce, and Susan Jackson making a return to 3P competition and having to fend off a serious challenge from Sheena Sharp in the 3x20.
Four Scots - Kay Copland, Nikki Sammels, Robin Honhold and Rory McAlpine are included in the fifteen strong British team that travels to Pilsen in the Czech Republic later this week for the Shooting Hopes junior international.
Jon Hammond continues to impress in the Men's Three Positions event, with two excellent scores in the elimination and qualification rounds at the World Cup in Munich. A score of 1160 in the first match included a near perfect 399, with one shot scoring 9.9 and he repeated this feat the next day on his way to a new Personal Best of 1168 - just one point off the British Record set by Alister Allan in 1990.
Four Scots have been selected in the nine strong British team for the final ISSF Rifle & Pistol World Cup of 2007. Neil Stirton and Matthew Thomson, who have already taken part in some of the earlier World Cup matches, will be joined by Jon Hammond and Emma Cole-Hamilton. All three of the men will compete in the Prone, with Jon also shooting in the Men's Three Positions event, while Emma will take part in the Women's Three Positions.
Hammond, the 1998 World Junior Champion, makes a return to the British team after a three year absence, and continues to be based in West Virginia, where he is now the full-time rifle coach at West Virginia University. Having come flown to the UK last week as part of his final preparations for the World Cup, he made a winning return to competition on this side of the Atlantic, with victory in the Men's Three Positions at yesterday's Hampshire Open with an excellent score of 1167 - just two points below the Scottish and British record score.
Martin Sinclair won both the Prone and Men's Three Positions Grand Prix at Denwood on 5th and 6th May. Alasdair Horne was second in the Grand Prix, with Jim Cole-Hamilton third. Earlier in the day Susan Jackson had made a winning return to competition after a thirteen month break, 592 giving her a five point lead ahead of Jim Cole-Hamilton in Class A, with Hugh Simpson third. Cliff Ogle was winner in Class B, with Robin Thomson and Lawrence Cooper winning Classes C & D respectively. The C&D Grand Prix went to Jon Malone from Robin Thomson and Richard Leather, while Emma Cole-Hamilton won the Women's Three Positions.
J & A Turnbull of Bank Street, Galashiels, have generously offered the local organisers of the SSCA/SSRA open meeting, to be held immediately following the Scottish Meeting at Lauder, prizes of 500 Tenex for the winners of the SSRA Borders Grand Prix on Saturday 7th July and the SSCA Liddle-Grainger Championship on Sunday 8th July.
Martin MacGill equalled the Scottish and British International records for the English Match today at the Grand Prix of Liberation in Pilsen, Czech Republic. This match, one of the biggest in Europe outside the European Championships and ISSF World Cups, has attracted well over 500 competitors from national and regional teams across three continents, including a considerable number of highly experienced international competitors.
Shooting in his first ever international match outside the British Isles, Martin recorded a score of 598 points, which took him into the final in first place, one point ahead of Armin Rothmund of Germany, with the highly experienced Marco De Nicolo of Italy - a finalist at the 2006 World Championships - one further point behind, and the 1988 Olympic Champion Miroslav Varga making a surprise appearance in amongst an otherwise relatively young field. Martin held his place until the ninth shot, after which he was tied with Rothmund, and the German produced a final shot of 10.3 to Martin's 10.0 to snatch the top spot at the very last.
In an excellent day for the Scots, the Men's trio of Martin, Sinclair Bruce and Gordon Motion took Gold in the team event, breaking the existing Scottish record for an international team of three by two points, just one frustrating point away from the British record score.
The results of the second All Ranges and combined Inter-Region Matches are now available here.
The results of the final stages of the winter individual postal competitions are now available. Hugh Simpson won the Class A medal after a second re-gauge against Gordon Motion, both shooters having recorded 298. Classes B, C and D were a little simpler, with clear winners in James Henderson, Simon Batchelor and Stu Drummond respectively, while Ian McDougal and Jim Michael took their relevant (junior and veteran) age-group categories. Simon Batchelor made it a double, winning the CanDicap while Donald McIntosh somehow managed to win the Short Range 3P Championship. Full results are available here.
The classifications for the SSRA Prone Open meetings that double as elimination rounds for the Prone Grand Prix events are now available here.
Anyone wishing their classification to be reviewed should contact the Executive Officer, preferably in writing or by email before participating in a Grand Prix. All requests for review will be considered by members of the classification committee or the organising committee of the relevant Grand Prix.
Scottish teams will take part in two international matches in Europe over the next few weeks. Sinclair Bruce, Gordon Motion, Andrew Coates and Sheena Sharp will take part in an International Competition on the newly upgraded range in Hannover between the 24th and 30th of April, and will be joined by Martin MacGill at the Grand Prix of Liberation in Pilsen between the 1st and 6th of May. Graham Rudd will also be taking part in these competitions, as part of the British team.
Forth & Clyde have set a new Scottish Record in the NSRA's Inter-County Air Rifle league. The team of Robin Law, Donald McIntosh, Cliff Ogle, Tricia Littlechild and Jennifer McIntosh recorded a score of 1430 in Round 8, overtaking the record previously set and equalled by the same county.
This coming Sunday sees the second combined All-Ranges and Inter-Region matches at the Denwood Target Shooting Centre in Aberdeen.
The All-ranges Open Meeting comprises shooting at 25 yards, 50 metres and 100 yards within an Aggregate. Competitions for individuals are held in 5 classes under NSRA rules, and NSRA Classification will be used, with the addition of an E class for beginners. Competitors who do not have an NSRA classification must submit an average of their most recent 10 short range competition targets and will be classified as shown. Those with NSRA ‘X’ classification will shoot in ‘A’ class.
Concurrent competitions for Women, Juniors (U18 and U21) and Veterans (O55) will also be held concurrent with the Aggregate with all age groups applying on the day of the competition. In addition, competitions for club teams of 3 are included in Short Range, Double Dewar and Aggregate. Subject to receiving a sufficient entry, an inexpert team competition for teams whose members are in C, D and E classes will also be held. Handicap pairs in Short Range, Dewar and Aggregate for modest cash prizes will be based on MacRae scores, calculated using either the competitor’s submitted average or the upper limit average for his classification, i.e 100 for A class, 98 for B class, etc. Sweepstakes will be run for single cards at each distance and in each class. 60% of this entry fee will be returned in prizes.
The Inter-Region Short Range Match Trophy will be shot concurrently with the 25 yard competition and the Inter-Region Dewar Match for the Bob Normand Trophy will be shot concurrently with the Double Dewar competition. Teams are cordially invited from Lothian, Forth & Clyde, Fife, Highland, Grampian, Southern Counties, Perthshire and Angus. Where a region consists of more than one NSRA affiliated area, such an area may, with the mutual consent of the other areas in their region, enter teams in the Inter-Region Matches. Each Inter-Region match is for teams of 5, or of 6 with the best 5 to count. The team members for the Short-range Inter-Region Match and the Dewar Inter-Region match need not be the same.
All team members for the club team competitions and for the Inter-Region matches must be nominated before any team member shoots.
Details will commence at 9.30 am and will start on the hour and half hour on all ranges, with 2 targets being fired during each half hour at 25 yards. Ten minutes will be allowed for each 25 yards target and 20 minutes for each 50 metres and 100 yards target. All entrants are urged to book their details in advance. Entries on the day will be accepted if squadding is available.
West Atholl Rifle Club assisted by Blair Atholl Gun Club and Blair Atholl Small-bore Rifle Club will again be hosting the Scottish Shooting Championships, also known as the "Multi-weapons", at the Jubilee Range, Blair Atholl on 13th May, 2007. The course of fire will comprise:
Competitors will be ranked in each event and the rankings added together to determine the overall winner and team winners. Depending on entries, prize money will be distributed to the leading competitors. The event will not be squadded so competitors may choose when to shoot each event between 9.30am and 3.30pm. Depending on entries some events may operate for shorter periods.
The day will be an official "guest day" for both West Atholl Rifle Club and Blair Atholl Small-bore Rifle Clubs which will allow competitors without their own rifles to use club rifles under one to one supervision. To comply with rules for guest days all competitors must belong to a recognised organisation such as a Rifle or Clay Target shooting club or be known to the organisers. All competitors will be required to exhibit membership of such a club or give the name of a sponsor from the organising clubs or exhibit their personal FAC. The event will have Section 11(6) exemption allowing competitors without their own shotguns to use shotguns under one to one supervision. Competitors exhibiting their personal SGC will not require supervision for the shotgun stage. Air pistols will also be available. All competitors without their own FAC or SGC will be required to sign a declaration that they are not prohibited from handling firearms.
Ammunition will be available at cost for use on the range only. "F" class and sporting rifles may be used in the full bore stage but will be handicapped by one scoring ring relative to pure "TR" rifles. Only non-expanding rifle ammunition may be used. Competitors, except those volunteering as coaches or RCOs, will be required to spend one detail marking in the full-bore butts. Directions to the range may be found at www.westatholl.org.uk or obtained from the organiser. Any other questions may be addressed to Mike Baillie-Hamilton.
Four Scottish Smallbore Rifle shooters have been signed up to the new UK Pathway programme operated by British Shooting, with funding from UK Sport. Matthew Thomson, Neil Stirton, Emma Cole-Hamilton and Graham Rudd are included in the programme, which is focussed entirely on success at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. For more details, visit the British Shooting website.
Watsonians successfully defended the British Team of Six for the News of the World trophy at Bisley yesterday. The team of Ronnie Sellar, Ian Thomson, Nick Baker, Bev Burnside, James Brown and Scott Dixon defeated Vauxhall Motors in the semi-final before beating Torfaen in the final.. The Edinburgh club have a chance to make it a double, having qualified for an all-Scottish final of the British Team of Four, where they will meet Wick Old Stagers.
In the final of the individual British Short Range Championship, Sheena Sharp lost out in a four-way tie shoot, ending up in third place.
Four Scottish shooters - Nikki Sammels, Oliver Barron, Finlay Craig and Rory McAlpine - have been selected for the British Schools team that travels to Dortmund later this month to take part in the ISAS international match.
Martin MacGill won the NSRA Scottish Short Range Championship last Sunday at Perth. His first round score of 395 tied with Ian Thomson and David Cummings, but Martin held his nerve in the tie-shoot to record a 99 against 98s from the other two. Bon Accord won the Scottish Cup, beating Wick Old Stagers in the final.
Matthew Thomson and Neil Stirton have been named in the small GBR teams attending the first three World Cup matches of the year. Matthew travels to the USA at the end of this month for the first event in Fort Benning, while Neil will attend the next two, in Sydney and Bangkok.
The final of the C&D Speedway was won by Ally Littlejohn, beating Fraser Cheetham in a shootoff. Full results are available here.
The following teams represented Scotland in our annual postal match against North Island, New Zealand:
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The results will be announced once the Kiwis have shot their cards in September. Congratulations to Oliver Barron, Dave Caughey, David Cummings, Mike Ozmond, James Paterson and Nikki Sammels for making their first appearance in the main team, and to Finlay Craig and Rory McAlpine for making their first appearance in the Junior team. Top scorers for Scotland were Bill Copland in the main team and Nikki Sammels in the Junior team.
Bill Copland won the SSRA Short Range Matchplay Championship, more commonly known as the Speedway, for the second time last Sunday. An excellent score of 995 ex 1000, shot in five 20 shot matches, earned the reigning Haig champion a massive 28 points, seven points clear of second placed Scott Dixon, while daughter Kay was third equal with Hugh Simpson one further point behind.
Emma Cole-Hamilton was second in the Senior Women's Air Rifle at the NSRA British Championships at Bisley over the weekend. A qualification round of 390 - one point off her Scottish record - was shot with a rifle borrowed from A Squad coach Donald McIntosh after her own exhibited serious problems during the earlier Aggregate competitions, and took her into the final three points adrift of England's Louise Minett, with Verity Thomas of Wales only one point behind, and although Minett extended her lead the second place was never under threat.
Earlier in the day Graham Rudd was the best placed Scot in a low scoring Men's Championship, with fourth place. The Scottish team of Emma, Graham and Jennifer McIntosh - making her international debut at 15 - was second behind England in the Home Country International, just sneaking ahead of last year's winners Wales. The Ladies team of Emma, Jennifer and Sheena Sharp - also making her debut in an air rifle international - were third in the Women's Match, with Wales breaking England's stranglehold on the competition for the first time in the history of the event. Jennifer McIntosh was the only Scottish shooter to feature highly in the prize-list, winning every available competition in Class C.
Robin Law continued his unbeaten run in the Air Rifle Grand Prix series in Dumfries yesterday, overhauling a one point deficit to Donald McIntosh in the final. The Air Pistol was won by David Erskine in short raid across the border from Carlisle, while Mark Joyce extended his lead in the series.
Graham Rudd and Emma Cole-Hamilton won the Men's and Women's titles at the 10m Air Rifle Championships held at the Scottish Police College, Tulliallan over the weekend. Graham entered the Men's final tied for first place with seven time winner Robin Law, with England's Nathan Sutherland one point behind. A good final of 101.4 from Graham was enough to pull well clear of Robin, with Nathan remaining in third place. In the Women's final, Emma Cole-Hamilton started with a five point cushion over Shirley McIntosh and Emma Parr, and recorded the best final of the day - 101.7 - to extend her lead, Emma Parr taking second and Shirley third.
In addition to the Championship, Graham also won Class A of the open meeting aggregate. Mark Joyce continued his improved form to take Class B, Sinclair Bruce also showing progress to win Class C and Bill Pow taking Class D and the Veterans. Emma Cole-Hamilton also raised the Scottish Women's record, 391 from the first 40 shots of her second aggregate competition overhauling the record of 390 previously held by Shirley McIntosh and Heather Rudd. Full results are available here.
Forth & Clyde have equalled their own Scottish Record in the NSRA's Inter-County Air Rifle league. The team of Robin Law, Donald McIntosh, Cliff Ogle, Tricia Littlechild and Jennifer McIntosh recorded a score of 1423 in Round 2, matching the score shot in the same round two years previously.
The third Commonwealth Youth Games will be held in Puna, India, in October 2008. Target Shooting will be included in these Games for the first time, and a full complement of smallbore and air rifle events for both men and women will be included. A maximum of one entry per country is permitted in each event, and to be eligible athletes must have been born no earlier than 1990. The Scottish Target Shooting Federation has notified the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland of it's interest in these Games, and it is hoped that selection criteria will be agreed and published in the New Year.
CGCS are currently advertising for the positions of General Team Manager, Head of Medical Services/Head Doctor and Head Physiotherapist for these Games - click here and follow the link for more details.