News Archive - 2008

Site Journal 2008

McAlpine & McIntosh bound for Australia
12th December 2008

Rory McAlpine and Jennifer McIntosh are two of a seven strong Shooting contingent selected by the British Olympic Association for the 2009 Australian Youth Olympic Festival.  Rory will compete in the Men's Prone, Jen in the Women's Air Rifle and 3x20, and will be joined by Donald McIntosh as Team Leader/Rifle Coach.

The shooting events are for Under-19 athletes, and the Australians have invited teams from China, India, New Zealand, Oceania and the United Kingdom to compete in 13 of the 15 Olympic events.

British Shooting Performance Director John Leighton-Dyson said "British Shooting are pleased to be supporting a young team of Rifle and Pistol shooters to Sydney this coming January. It is a wonderful opportunity for them to participate in an Olympic type multi-sport Games in a great city blessed with a wonderful climate for sport. The competition will be stronger than ever before but we have realisitic prospects for medals and Shooting will do Team GB proud".

Over one hundred of the UK's finest young athletes have been selected to represent Team GB at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF) in Sydney from 14-18 January 2009. The athletes aged between 13-19 will be competing in 11 Olympic sports; archery, canoe/kayak; diving; equestrian; fencing; gymnastics; hockey; rowing; shooting; triathlon and volleyball (beach).

1,600 athletes representing 25 nations (including China and the United States,) will compete, by invitation, at the AYOF. The event was set up by the Australian Olympic Committee as part of the legacy of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

Leading Team GB at the AYOF Mark England, Chef de Mission said:

“As part of the BOA’s desire to discover future Olympic champions and provide them with the experience of participating in multi-sport events, this festival presents a fantastic opportunity for over 100 of our finest young potential Olympians to get their first taste of Olympic competition.

With the London Olympic Games less than four years away, many of these athletes will be hoping to use this experience as a stepping stone to 2012.”

The 2009 AYOF is the second time that Great Britain has been invited to compete in the AYOF. A total of 106 Team GB athletes attended the 2007 AYOF with 91 returning to the UK with at least one medal. Great Britain finished with a highly credible 14 gold, 20 silver and 14 bronze medals. Further details are available on the BOA's AYOF microsite.



McIntosh wins at Callander
10th November 2008

Jennifer McIntosh won the first Air Rifle Grand Prix of the 2008/9 season, held yesterday in Callander.  A score of 584, breaking the Scottish Record for Junior Women over 60 shots, took her into the final four points clear of Robin Law - a lead which was extended slightly after the additional ten shots.  Things were a little closer in the fight for third place - Steven Watterson taking the points, while Sheena Sharp made up a three point deficit on Donald McIntosh and snatched the extra point on the tie-shot.

In the Air Pistol event Mike Baillie-Hamilton - a former Commonwealth Games fullbore rifle shooter, and leading exponent of Match Rifle shooting took the honours, with Bruce McIntosh and Mark Joyce taking second and third.



Watsonians Open
10th November 2008

Watsonian Rifle Club is holding its annual Open Meeting on Sunday 30th November, Saturday & Sunday 6th & 7th December.

There are five Classes with Ladies, Veterans and Junior competitions, plus club teams of 3.  The course of fire is 60 shots at 25 yards, completed in 3 details (doesn't have to be consecutive details), 2 cards shot in every detail with a time limit of 10 minutes per card, your cards are changed for you.

Food available throughout the day in the "Bun Room". 

Previous entrants will be emailed an entry form, for further information and/or an entry form please contact beverleyburnside@hotmail.com.



Award for Kay Copland
27th October 2008

Kay Copland was presented with the Runner's Up award for the Clydesdale Bank Scottish Athlete of the Commonwealth Youth Games on Saturday night.  Kay was presented with a cheque for £300 along with another cheque for £300 for Banff & Macduff Rifle Club, by Steve Reid, Retail Director of the Clydesdale Bank along with Stewart Maxwell, Scottish Sports Minister during the annual Commonwealth Games Scotland awards dinner in Glasgow.  Kay won the first of Scotland's three Gold medals at the recent Youth Games in Pune - the award for first place going to swimmer Douglas Scott, who won the other two Gold medals as well as a Bronze.

Also attending the dinner were Kay's fellow team members Jennifer McIntosh, Rory McAlpine and Catriona MacGregor - all four of whom are pictured right with multiple Olympic Gold medal winner Chris Hoy.



Stirton to compete at World Cup Final
24th October 2008

Neil Stirton heads for Bangkok on Tuesday to compete in the prestigious World Cup Final competition.  This event, held annually, features a elite field of 12 athletes in each Olympic rifle and pistol event.  Eight athletes - including Neil - qualified from the World Cup matches held in the spring, and are joined by the three medallists from the Beijing Olympic Games and the World Cup Final winner from the previous year. 

Neil will compete in the Men's Prone event, in which he won a Silver medal at the third World Cup of 2008 in Munich, and leaves the UK on Tuesday along with coach Donald McIntosh.  The Men's Prone is scheduled for the 3rd of November, and will be shown on ISSF.TV.



Scotland win North Island, New Zealand Match
24th October 2008

The Scottish team of 15 in our annual postal international match with New Zealand have won the 2008 match, despite recording a relatively low score of 5902.  Following on from a win in 2007, this brings the total for the series to 18:17 in favour of the Kiwis.  Top score in the Scottish team was Gordon Motion with 397.

In the Junior match, a run of three consectutive wins by the Scottish team came to an end, the New Zealand team winning 1951 to 1937 for their third win in nine matches.  Top score in the Scottish team was Ian McDougall with 392.



Copland elected Flag Bearer
19th October 2008

Kay Copland - one of Scotland's three Gold Medal winners at the Commonwealth Youth Games in India - was selected to carry the Scottish flag at the Closing Ceremony in Pune last night.



Silver in Pune
16th October 2008

Jennifer McIntosh has won Scotland's third Shooting medal at the Commonwealth Youth Games in India.  Jennifer started well, taking the lead from the off with a very steady 196 prone, two points ahead of the next best shooter.  Her Standing got off to a slow start, with 88, but she pulled out all the stops for a 95 on the second string, slightly extending her overall lead going into the Kneeling.  This last position, in which she is still very inexperienced, proved the most difficult, and although she started with a steady 90, she fell away over the last ten shots to finish with an 84, for a Qualification round total of 553 - just one off her Personal Best.

This took her into the final in equal third place, in lane four based on countback.  A 10.0 to start moved her immediately into second place, and there she remained for the next nine shots, including another four 10s, extending her lead over the third placed Indian shooter, but unable to make up any ground into the lead held by England's Sheree Cox.



Gold and Bronze in Pune
14th October 2008

Kay Copland and Rory McAlpine have won Scotland's first two medals at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, IND.  Kay shot a score of 585 to win the Women's Prone by a margin of three points, ahead of shooters from Malaysia and England.  Just minutes later, Rory made it two, with Bronze in the Men's Prone.

"It's beyond than my wildest dreams to compete in an event like this and it feels absolutely amazing to win the gold medal," said 18 year old Kay. 

"I didn't think I'd ever get gold, I didn't think I'd ever get a medal so I'm so happy.  The event is quite a high standard and I know some of the people so I was quite nervous before the start."

Seventeen year old Rory finished behind shooters from England and Northern Ireland.  Had it not been for one stray shot in the final, which he recovered quickly from, he might have finished higher.

"I had one shocking shot right in the middle of the final on my fifth shot and thought I had ruined my chances but I managed to put it out of my mind and get on with it," he said.  "I'm very and relieved to in the bronze medal I was very proud to be standing on the podium."

Equally delighted was Sinclair Bruce, the Scottish team's shooting manager.  "It's obviously a great start for the team to get a gold and bronze on the same day and they came in very different ways," he said. 

"Rory had a rocky start in the 60 shot qualification.  He came off had a chat and he went back down and he was like a different shooter.  Whilst Kay was steady all the way through."

"Coming into today I was hopeful of two medals.  We don't really know what the competition was like but I knew what Kay and Rory were capable of."



Revised Squads Announced
14th October 2008

Following the completion of the 2007/8 season, SSRA Performance Manager Donald McIntosh has announced a number of revisions to the SSRA's Squads.

In the A Squad, Kay Copland moves up from the U25 squad, as does Dave Caughey from the B Squad, while Susan Jackson steps down following her recent retirement from International Shooting.  Fraser Cheetham makes the move from the U21 to the U25 Squad.  The majority of the athletes within these squads will benefit from support from the Scottish Institute of Sport and the various Area Institutes of Sport.

Gregor Bremner moves up to the B Squad, becoming a Senior in 2009, and is joined there by Mike Ozmond.  There are also a number of new additions to the U21 Squad - Kathryn Williamson in Air Rifle, Ashleigh Talyor, Andrew Ross and William Stewart in Prone.

The squads will meet as one large group in late October for a review of 2008, Anti-Doping education and a number of workshops looking forward to 2009 and the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Full details can be seen on the Squads and Athletes page.



Medals in Gibraltar
29th September 2008

Word has reached us of a number of medals won at the CSF(ED) Championships in Gibraltar over the last three days, including:



Winning Weekend for Sharp
8th September 2008

Sheena Sharp finished the summer season with two wins and a new Personal Best at the SSRA Grand Prix events over the weekend.  A qualification round of 564 in the 3x20, in very windy conditions at Denwood, was a new PB, and earned her maximum points.  Emma Cole-Hamilton was second, moving ahead of Susan Jackson to win the 3x20 series for the fourth time.  Donald McIntosh won the 3x40 Grand Prix to retain the 3x40 series - a seventh title in 19 years.

Sheena went on to Gagie, where faced with more challenging conditions she shot an excellent 594 to take a three point lead into the final, with Martin MacGill and Cyril De Jonckheere taking the minor medals.  Fourth place for Hugh Simpson gave him enough points to move into top place in the A&B series for his first outright win - having shared the series with Gordon Winch way back in 1989.

Beverley Burnside, Fraser Cheetham and Iain Malone took the medals in the C&D series, leaving the order at the top of the C&D points table unchanged.

Earlier in the day Cliff Ogle had produced a stunning 596 to win Class B, with only 591 required by Hugh Simpson to win Class A.  Beverley Burnside's excellent form continuing, with 590 to win Class C, with Simon Batchelor's 580 winning Class D.



Wilson dominates at Denwood
1st September 2008

The fourth Grand Prix events of the summer were blessed with excellent entry levels, and some fine shooting, on the 50m range at Denwood.  A considerable influx of visitors from England and the Isle of Man boosted the entries, and helped to raise the standards of the Prone matches amongst the highest seen yet. 

A score of 590 in the Grampian Open was required to qualify for the Grand Prix - four scores of 596 topping the bill in Class A, with Sinclair Bruce the winner on countback ahead of Neil Stirton and Mike Babb - Richard Wilson counted out to fourth!  Class B wasn't much easier, Dave Caughey the winner with 593 ahead of Cliff Ogle on 592 and Sharon Lee the best of the 591s.  Class C was worse, Beverley Burnside adding five points to her Personal Best to win on 595, but only two points ahead of another big PB, this one from Fraser Cheetham with 593, with James Paterson third on 587.  Bruce McIntosh won Class D on 578, with Ron Nilsen and Simon Batchelor second and third on 575.

Bev's excellent run of form continued into the C&D Grand Prix final, a 593 securing maximum points and giving her a nine point lead in the series.  Iain Malone was close behind, with 591 for second, Fraser Cheetham third on 588.  These three shooters have moved well ahead of the pack in the series, which will be decided at Gagie next Sunday.

In the A&B Grand Prix Richard Wilson from the Isle of Wight, inspired after being counted down to fourth on an equal winning score in the morning, raised his game to lead the field with an excellent 597, two clear of Helen Spittles, with Hugh Simpson third.  With Helen and Mike Babb leaving before the final, Richard was unchallenged and produced the best final of the day for a comfortable win - Donald McIntosh moving ahead of Hugh for second, and Neil Stirton climbing from 8th to 3rd with another of his excellent final performances, snatching the medal from Hugh on the tie-shot.  The Prone series remains wide open, with James Henderson hanging onto a narrow lead from High Simpson and Matt Thomson, but there are a considerable number of other shooters who can still win the title when it is decided next Sunday at Gagie.

Scores in the Three Positions Grand Prix on the Saturday were generally low, other than England's Sharon Lee who recorded a fine 577 to win by a massive margin.  Donald McIntosh took maximum points in the 3x40 with his best performance since retiring in 2003.  Susan Jackson still heads the 3x20 series, with Graham Rudd moving into a narrow lead ahead of Neil Stirton in the 3x40 series, both of which will be finalised next Saturday at Denwood.



Silver for McIntosh at Nordics
22nd August 2008

Jennifer McIntosh has won GBR's first medal of the Nordics Championships in Sweden, setting new Scottish Junior and Senior Record scores on her way to the Silver medal.

A qualification round of 393, including first and last strings of 100, took her into the final in second place, three points off the lead.  The lead was steadily closed down over the next ten shots - nine of them 10s from Jennifer - but the gap was just too much, and she finished 0.5 off the lead. 

Both her qualification round of 393 and final score of 496.4 are new Scottish records in both the Junior and Senior categories.



Team for CSF(ED)
22nd August 2008

The following team has been selected for the CSF(ED) Championships, which will be held in Gibraltar in September:

Women's Prone
Sarah Bates
Jen McIntosh
Women's 3P
Sarah Bates
Jen McIntosh
Women's Air
Jen McIntosh
Men's Prone
Dave Caughey
James Henderson
Rory McAlpine
James Paterson
Men's 3P
Dave Caughey*
James Henderson*
James Paterson
Men's Air
James Henderson*

* Denotes that no cap will be awarded for this event.

Graham Rudd will accompany the athletes as Team Manager.



Commonwealth Youth Games selections confirmed
21st August 2008



The following athletes have been selected by Commonweath Games Scotland for the Commonwealth Youth Games, which will be held in Pune, India, in October:

Men's Prone
Rory McAlpine
Women's Prone
Kay Copland
Women's 3P
Jen McIntosh
Women's Air
Jen McIntosh

They will be joined by Air Pistol shooter Catriona McGregor and Skeet shooter Ben Wilson, as part of a 44 strong Scottish team.  Sinclair Bruce is also travelling to Pune as Sport Team Manager for Shooting.



Scots in Sweden for Nordic Juniors
21st August 2008

Three Scottish juniors are included in the British team at the Junior Nordics in Sweden this week.

Jennifer McIntosh shoots in the Women's Air Rifle, Nikki Sammels in the Women's Prone and Robin Honhold in the Men's Prone.

They are also joined by Scottish Air Pistol shooters Catriona McGregor and Alasdair Exworthy.



Sharp wins Roberts
16th August 2008

Sheena Sharp has become the second ever woman, and first Scot since 1993, to win the British Long Range Prone Championship for the Earl Roberts trophy at the NSRA National Rifle Meeting at Bisley.  Sheena scored 772 in the Double Dewar final, beating Tony Lincoln by two points, with last year's winner Michelle Smith in third place and Scotland's Hugh Simpson fifth.

The Scottish teams in the Home Countries matches did not perform well, all three losing - the Main Team third behind England and Wales, the Ladies and Juniors second to England.  There were debuts for Mary Melvin and Mike Ozmond in the Main Team and for Fraser Cheetham, Andrew Ozmond and Jennifer McIntosh in the Junior team.  The scores are available here.

In the Aggregate competitions Cliff Ogle was second in Class X, while Andrew Laurie was runaway winner in Class C.  Sheena Sharp won the 50m portion of the Aggregate.

In the Individual competitions, there were a number of successes for the small Scottish contingent who attended the meeting, including:

Weekend Aggregate

Class X - Cliff Ogle 2nd, Mel Mutch 3rd, Hugh Simpson 5th

Class C - Gordon Cox 3rd, Andrew Laurie 5th

Class D - S Law 4th

Grand Aggregate

Comp 1, Class B - Mary Melvin; Class C - Andrew Laurie

Comp 4, Class C - Andrew Laurie

Comp 5, Class X - Sheena Sharp; Class A - Bill Baird; Class C - Andrew Laurie

50m Aggregate - Sheena Sharp

Grand Aggregate, Class X - Cliff Ogle 2nd, Sheena Sharp 5th; Class B - Mary Melvin 5th; Class C - Andrew Laurie 1st; Leading Cadet - Jennifer McIntosh

Miscellaneous

Any-Sights Squadded Aggregate - Sheena Sharp 1st, Graham Shedden 2nd

Junior Development Fund - Sheena Sharp

Junior Championship - Andrew Ozmond - 2nd

3x20 Competition - Graham Rudd

British Championships

3x40 Championship - Graham Rudd 5th, James Paterson 10th

Prone Championship - Sheena Sharp 1st, Hugh Simpson 5th, Dave Caughey 12th



Team for Home Countries Three Positions
7th August 2008

The following team has been selected for the Home Countries Three Positions match, which will be held concurrently with the British 3x40 Championship on Saturday morning:

3x40 Team
Graham Rudd (Capt)
James Paterson
Brian Inglis

At this time it appears that we do not have sufficient Women entered in the 3x20 Championship to contest the Women's International Match.



Hammond 4 Gold
7th August 2008

You can follow Jon's progress in Beijing on his new blog - with all the technical work done by Neil Stirton!  Click here...



Gold for Copland at Junior International
7th August 2008

Kay Copland has continued her run of good form, winning the Women's Prone at the NSRA's Junior International match at Bisley today.  Kay's score of 588 gave her a five point lead over Fenna Otten of Oldenburg.

In the Junior Men's Prone, the team of Fraser Cheetham, Ian MacDougall and Andrew Ozmond took the bronze behind Denmark and the GB Junior Squad team.

There was success also from their counterparts in the Pistol events - Catriona MacGregor winning the Women's Air Pistol ahead of team-mate Anja Hogben, and then combining with Jess Lidden to win the Team event also.  In the Men's Air Pistol Alistair Exworthy, Graeme Corr and Jack McRoberts also took a team bronze.



Nominations for Commonwealth Youth Games
29th July 2008



The following athletes have been nominated by SSRA for the Commonwealth Youth Games, which will be held in Pune, India, in October:

Men's Prone
Rory McAlpine
Women's Prone
Kay Copland
Women's Air
Jen McIntosh

These nominations have been made to Scottish Target Shooting, who will combine them with athletes nominated in the Pistol and Shotgun disciplines, before sending them on to Commonwealth Games Scotland.  At this stage we have been told that we can expect to have four athletes selected for the final team, however there are five Events in which Scottish shooters have achieved the minimum consideration standard.  All five athletes will be nominated in the hope that a further team place may become available, however it is possible that only four of them will make the final team.



Team for NSRA/Eley Inter-Region Match
29th July 2008

The following team has been selected for the NSRA/Eley Inter-Region Match, which will be held at Bisley on Friday 8th August:

Men's Prone
James Henderson
James Paterson
Dave Caughey
Rory McAlpine
Fraser Cheetham
Graham Rudd
Gordon Buchan
Andrew Ozmond
Charles Allan
Men's 3P
Graham Rudd
James Paterson
James Henderson
Dave Caughey
Women's Prone
Sarah Bates
Mary Melvin


Team for Junior International
29th July 2008

The following team has been selected for the NSRA Junior International, which will be held at Bisley from 4th to 7th August:

Men's Prone
Rory McAlpine
Ollie Barron
Fraser Cheetham
Gordon Buchan
Andrew Ozmond
Ian MacDougall
Women's Prone
Kay Copland
Nikki Sammels
Jen McIntosh
Women's 3P
Jen McIntosh
Women's Air
Jen McIntosh


Scottish Open wins for Stirton and Corish
28th July 2008

The Scottish 50m Championships finished yesterday, with a difficult start for the Men's Prone due to fog blanketing the range during the early part of the first elimination relay.   Despite this, the day produced some fine shooting, and it took the final to split Neil Stirton and Martin Sinclair, with the 2006 Commonwealth Games pair tied on 596 after the qualification round.  Neil shot a very steady 104.3 to Martin's 103.0.  Jim Cole-Hamilton, the winner of the Haig earlier this month, was just a point behind on 595 but was unable to make up ground, and remained in third place with his final of 102.3.  Ken Parr was the best placed junior, 6th with 592 & 102.7

Welsh shooter Sian Corish won the Women's 3x20 with a solid 575, entering the final four points ahead of Emma Cole-Hamilton, with Susan Jackson leading the pack of challengers for third place.  Sian and Emma remained first and second after the final, with Susan losing out on the Bronze in the Open Championship to Sian's twin sister Jenny.  Emma and Susan took Gold and Silver in the confined championship, with Jennifer McIntosh taking the Bronze and highest Junior award on her debut.



Scottish Open wins for Parr and Spittles
27th July 2008

The Scottish 50m Championships started yesterday at a warm and sunny Denwood.  The entry is substantially up on last year, with a number of competitors from England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

England's Commonwealth Games Silver medallist Helen Spittles won the Women's Prone with a fine 594, ahead of her Melbourne pairs partner Sharon Lee on 591 and Susan Jackson on 587.  Susan won the confined Scottish Championship, with Beverley Burnside and Kay Copland second and third, Kay winning the Junior event ahead of Nikki Sammels and Jennifer McIntosh.

In the Men's 3x40, Ken Parr (ENG) shot a steady 1151 for a new Personal Best and provisional British Junior record, entering the final one point behind Graham Rudd, with a season's best of 1152.  Ken overhauled Graham in the final, breaking the British Junior Final Record along the way, with Duncan Farmer taking the bronze.  Ken also took the Junior event, with Graham, Martin Sinclair and Donald McIntosh taking the medals in the confined event.



Stirton Second in Denmark
20th July 2008

Neil Stirton was second today in the second of two Men's Prone at the Royal League match in Denmark. A qualification round of 594 and a final of 103.7 placed him behind Carsten Brand of Denmark, with Vebjørn Berg of Norway third.

On the first day of competition Jon Hammond set a new Personal Best of 589 in the Air Rifle event.

Elsewhere, Graham Rudd recorded 1150 - his best score of the year to date - to win the Men's 3x40 at the Hampshire Open in Basingstoke.



Final Preparations for Hammond in Denmark
18th July 2008

Jon Hammond will complete his preparations for Beijing this weekend in Denmark.  Jon will be joined by World Cup Silver medal winner Neil Stirton and coach Donald McIntosh at a Royal League match in Fredericia, competing against athletes from Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland in all three rifle events.

Jon will return home for a few days before heading for the Team GB holding camp in Macau at the end of the month, and will transfer to Beijing in early August, prior to the Opening Ceremony.

Jon's three matches will be held on the 11th (Air Rifle), 15th (Prone) and 17th (3x40) of August.



European Silver for Copland and Sammels
9th July 2008

Kay Copland and Nikki Sammels, in conjunction with England's Sheree Cox, have won Silver for Great Britain in the Women's Prone Team event at the European Junior Championships in Pilsen.  The team, which won Gold with score equal to the World Record one month ago on the same range, recorded a score of 1765 to tie with Sweden, losing the medal on a lower aggregate of their fifth strings.

Kay was unfortunate to miss out on an individual medal on countback, coming 4th with 591.



High Performance Manager
8th July 2008

Scottish Target Shooting, the umbrella Federation for Shooting in Scotland, are advertising for a High Performance Manager.  As part of an increase in funding from sportscotland targeted towards High Performance coaching, this role is moving from a voluntary one to a part time contract. 

Please click here for a job description and other information.



PB & Final Record for Jackson
updated 28th July 2008

Susan Jackson set a new Personal Best of 576 in winning the 3x20 Grand Prix at Denwood on Sunday.  This added three points to her previous best, set at a Grand Prix in late 2005.

Susan then broke her own Scottish Final Record, adding 97.2 to the Qualification score for a total of 673.2.

Susan now takes lead in the series, 30 points to Emma Cole-Hamilton's 24, with two events remaining.



Stirton and McIntosh head for Beijing
5th July 2008

Neil Stirton and Donald McIntosh will be spending six days in Macau and Beijing during the 2008 Olympic Games as part of the BOA's Olympic Ambitions 2012 programme.

See here for more details.



Cole-Hamilton retains Haig
4th July 2008

Jim Cole-Hamilton successfully retained the Haig Long Range Scottish Championships today in Dumfries.  Shortly after leading Scotland to victory against England, Jim produced another very solid display in quite challenging wind.  A score of 580 gave him a two point lead over Bill Copland, with Hugh Simpson taking the bronze ahead of Donald McIntosh on countback.

Alloa & District (Cliff Ogle, Mike Ozmond & Donald McIntosh) won both the Scottish 50m and Scottish 100yd team championships for the Pullar Targe and ICI Challenge Cup respectively, while Bon Accord (Jim Cole-Hamilton, Sheena Sharp and Jon Latimer) won both of the open team competitions for the New Zealand Shield and Lord Forteviot Cup, setting a new Scottish team record in the Forteviot, with Alloa second in both.  Bon Accord also won the Ron Russell trophy for the Aggregate team, adding a massive 46 points to the Scottish record.  The Banff & Macduff pair of Bill and Kay Copland won the pairs event ahead of Mike and Andrew Ozmond of Alloa, with Aberdeenshire winning the County Sextette from Forth & Clyde.

Rory McAlpine won the Junior Championship from Jennifer McIntosh and Andrew Ozmond, while Cyril De Jonckheere won the Veterans.  Graham Shedden won the Daily Telegraph, with Jim Cole-Hamilton sharing the Chas R E Bell trophy with Michelle Smith.



Scotland win International Match
4th July 2008

Scotland won the Home Countries International match against England today at Dumfries.  An outstanding 395 from Jim Cole-Hamilton led the team home, with a winning margin of 26 points.  The Ladies team fared less well, losing heavily to England.  Scottish scores are available here.



Scottish Teams for Home Countries Prone Matches
3rd July 2008

The following teams from Scotland will take part in the Home Countries Prone Matches at Dumfries tomorrow:

Main Team
Jim Cole-Hamilton Bill Copland
Kay Copland Cyril De Jonckheere
Rory McAlpine James Paterson
Graham Shedden Hugh Simpson
Richard Simpson John Smith
 
Reserves:
Ian Thomson Mike Ozmond
 
Captain: Tom Hodgson
Secretary: Cyril De Jonckheere
Ladies Team
Kay Copland
Jennifer McIntosh
Mary Melvin
Karen Nilsen
Sheena Sharp
 
Reserves:
Lucy Martin
 
Captain: Fiona Shedden
Secretary: Judy Foster

Congratulations to Rory McAlpine, Graham Shedden and John Smith for making the team for the first time and to Richard Simpson for making the team at his first Scottish since 1987, where he earned the last of his six previous caps.



Ogle wins Freuchie
3rd July 2008

After 25 years of trying Cliff Ogle finally won the only major trophy at the Scottish Meeting to have eluded him, taking with Wilkinson Sword for the Scottish Long Range Matchplay Championship ahead of Nick Mullins and defending champion Jim Cole-Hamilton.

In classes C&D Fraser Cheetham successfully retained the Sgian Dubh, beating Jennifer McIntosh and Lawrence Cooper.



Aggregate Summary
updated 3rd July 2008

Very briefly, here is a summary of the Scottish winners from completed Aggregates at the Scottish Meeting at Dumfries:

  Class X Class A Class B Class C Class D

Comp 4 (40 @ 50m)

Jon Latimer - 1st

Cliff Ogle - 2nd=

Kay Copland - 2nd=

Rory McAlpine - 2nd=

Graham Shedden - 2nd=

Ian MacDougall - 2nd

 

Fraser Cheetham - 2nd

Simon Batchelor - 3rd

Jennifer McIntosh - 1st

S Gemmell - 3rd

Comp 5 (60 @ 100yd)

James Paterson - 2nd=

Bill Copland - 2nd=

Graham Shedden - 3rd=

Ian Burton - 1st

Karen Nilsen - 3rd

Fraser Cheetham - 2nd

Ian Henderson - 3rd

K Mackenzie - 1st

Jennifer McIntosh - 2nd

Andrew McAulay - 3rd

Comp 6 (Squadded Aggregate)

Jim Cole-Hamilton - 2nd

Kay Copland - 3rd

Rory McAlpine - 2nd=

 

Fraser Cheetham - 1st

Simon Batchelor - 2nd

Jennifer McIntosh - 1st

S Gemmell - 3rd

Comp 13 (Unsquadded Aggregate)

Jim Cole-Hamilton - 1st

Cliff Ogle - 2nd=

Rory McAlpine - 1st

Graham Shedden - 2nd

Gregor Bremner - 1st

Steven Blackwood - 3rd

Fraser Cheetham - 1st

Gordon Buchan - 2nd

Willie McAuley - 3rd

Jennifer McIntosh - 1st

K Mackenzie - 2nd

Jonty Barron - 3rd



Hammond selected for Beijing
1st July 2008

Jon Hammond has been formally selected by the British Olympic Association to represent Great Britain at the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Jon won GBR's only quota place in the rifle events, with fourth at last year's European Championships, and will compete in the Men's 10m Air Rifle, 50m Prone and 50m Three Positions events.

He will be joined by four other British Shooters, all competing in the Shotgun events.



Aggregate Day 1 Summary
1st July 2008

Very briefly, here is a summary of the Scottish winners from the first half of the Aggregate at the Scottish Meeting at Dumfries:

  Class X Class A Class B Class C Class D

Comp 2 (60 @ 50m)

Kay Copland - 2nd

Jim Cole-Hamilton - 3rd

Rory McAlpine - 1st

Richard Simpson - 3rd

Mary Melvin - 2nd

 

Fraser Cheetham - 1st

Simon Batchelor - 2nd

Jennifer McIntosh - 1st

C Duncan - 3rd

Comp 3 (40 @ 100yd)

Jim Cole-Hamilton - 1st

Bill Copland - 3rd

 

Karen Nilsen - 3rd

Fraser Cheetham - 1st

Simon Batchelor - 2nd

Fraser Sands - 3rd

Andrew McAuley - 1st

Jennifer McIntosh - 2nd

S Gemmell - 3rd



Haig Final Qualifiers
1st July 2008

The following shooters have qualified for the final of the Haig on Friday afternoon:

Jim Cole-Hamilton

Kay Copland

Bill Copland

Donald McIntosh

Rory McAlpine

Sheena Sharp

J P Lynch

Graham Shedden

Ian Shanks

Ian Thomson

Mike Ozmond

Hugh Simpson

Gregor Bremner

Bill Vaughan

James Paterson

Bill Hamilton

John Smith

Richard Simpson

Simon Batchelor

Bruce McIntosh



Weekend Summary from Dumfries
1st July 2008

Very briefly, here is a summary of the Scottish winners from the weekend's competitions at the Scottish Meeting at Dumfries:

  Class X Class A Class B Class C Class D

Comp 1 (Dewar/Haig)

Cliff Ogle - 1st

Jim Cole-Hamilton - 2nd

Hugh Simpson - 3rd

Mike Ozmond - 1st

Gregor Bremner - 2nd

Steven Blackwood - 3rd

Simon Batchelor - 1st

Pat Gray - 2nd

Fraser Cheetham - 3rd

Jennifer McIntosh - 1st

Comp 7 (Early Birds)

James Paterson - 2nd

Hugh Simpson - 3rd

Mike Low - 1st

Ian McDougall - 1st

Gordon Buchan - 1st

Simon Batchelor - 2nd

Jennifer McIntosh - 1st

Comp 8 (Gregory Salver)

Cliff Ogle - 1st

Kay Copland - 3rd

Robin Thomson - 2nd

Ian McDougall - 1st

Steven Blackwood - 2nd

Gregor Bremner - 3rd

Gordon Buchan - 1st

Fraser Cheetham - 2nd

Jennifer McIntosh - 1st

Ally Littlejohn - 2nd

Weekend Aggregate

James Paterson - 1st

Jon Latimer - 2nd

Mike Ozmond - 2nd

Ian McDougall - 1st

Gregor Bremner - 3rd

Gordon Buchan - 1st

Simon Batchelor - 2nd

Pat Gray - 3rd

Jennifer McIntosh - 1st

 



Gold for Thomson at Bisley
16th June 2008

Matt Thomson won the Men's Prone yesterday at the British 50m Championships at Bisley.  A qualification round of 594 took him into the final in first place, just ahead of Northern Ireland junior Matthew Hall, and although the gap was narrowed at times, Matt retained his lead throughout, to win his first senior GB title.  Mel Mutch also qualified for the final, ending up in fifth place.

There were Scottish medallists in all of the other events also - Graham Rudd taking Silver in the Men's 3x40, with James Paterson, Martin Sinclair and Brian Inglis fifth through seventh respectively.  Emma Cole-Hamilton took Bronze in the Women's 3x20, with Sheena Sharp fourth, and Emma took Bronze again in the Women's Prone, with Sheena fourth again, and Susan Jackson fifth.

Matt also combined with Neil Stirton and James Paterson to win the Men's Prone international match, with all three of the other Scottish teams coming second to England despite the Women's Prone team raising the Scottish Record by one point.  Susan Jackson becomes the fifth Scottish athlete to hold 50 international caps, joining Robin Law, Cyril De Jonckheere, Donald McIntosh and Sheena Sharp. The team scores can be seen here.



Teams selected for Home Countries Internationals
12th June 2008

The following teams have been selected for the inaugural Home Countries international matches being held concurrent with the NSRA British 50m International Championships at Bisley this coming weekend:

Men's Prone
James Paterson
Neil Stirton (Capt)
Matthew Thomson
Women's Prone
Susan Jackson
Nikki Sammels
Sheena Sharp (Capt)
Men's 3x40
James Paterson
Graham Rudd (Capt)
Martin Sinclair
Women's 3x20
Emma Cole-Hamilton
Susan Jackson (Capt)
Sheena Sharp


Grand Prix wins for Henderson and Thomson
12th June 2008

The Caithness Grand Prix was held at the end of May this year, and entries were generally pretty low.  James Henderson won both Class A and the A&B Grand Prix with some steady shooting, Mike Ozmond and David Bremner picking up the minor medals in the Grand Prix.  A week later the series moved to Gagie, on the outskirts of Dundee, where Matthew Thomson was dominant, winning the Grand Prix with 595 and 103.6 ahead of Cyril De Jonckheere and Hugh Simpson.



Stirton's Remarkable 3x40 Debut
9th June 2008

Neil Stirton made his debut as a Three Positions shooter on Saturday at Denwood in remarkable fashion.  A qualification round score of 1143 was only two points behind the highly experienced Graham Rudd, and even more remarkably Neil overhauled Graham in the Final with a new Scottish Final record of 101.4.  Neil took up Air Rifle in the autumn of 2007, which has undoubtedly helped with picking up the smallbore rifle in the Standing position, but only shot in the Kneeling position for the first time in late March, and to achieve a debut at this standard is unprecedented in Scottish shooting.



Scots contribute to British Team Records
7th June 2008

The three Scottish junior women attending the Shooting Hopes competition in Pilsen this week have all been part of Great Britain teams that have set new British Junior Team records this week.

Yesterday Jennifer McIntosh joined up with Sheree Cox and Melanie Flowers in the Women's Air Rifle to add one point to the existing record, which had been set in Sweden ten years ago.  Today Kay Copland and Nikki Sammels joined up with Sheree to win Gold in the Junior Women's Prone team, raising the existing record (which Nikki had helped to set last year) by a massive 11 points.



Four Scots selected for European Junior Championships
4th June 2008

Four Scottish rifle shooters - Kay Copland, Nikki Sammels, Ollie Barron and Robin Honhold - have been selected by British Shooting to attend the European Junior Championships, which will be held in Pilsen from 7th to 11th July.  The four Scots will be joined by England's Sheree Cox and Ken Parr to complete teams for both the Men's and Women's Prone.



Under 25 Squad heads for Pilsen
4th June 2008

All six members of the Scottish Under 25 squad are heading for Pilsen over the next couple of days, to take part in the Shooting Hopes junior international as part of a GBR team.  Ollie Barron, Kay Copland, Robin Honhold, Rory McAlpine, Jennifer McIntosh and Nikki Sammels will all shoot in the Prone matches, with Jennifer also competing in the Air Rifle.



Stirton takes Silver in Munich
19th May 2008

Not satisfied with equalling the British & Scottish record yesterday, Neil Stirton today raised both to 599 on his way to winning the Silver medal at the World Cup in Munich.  Neil entered the final in second place, tied with World Champion Sergei Martynov, and the two shooters battled it out in a very close final.  Neil held a narrow lead going into the last shot, but was unfortunate to be overtaken, Martynov winning by 0.1 points.



Stirton equals British record
18th May 2008

Neil Stirton equalled the Scottish & British Record for the Men's 50m Prone event today at the ISSF World Cup in Munich.  Shooting in the elimination round, Neil raised his Personal Best by two points to 598.  Neil, along with fellow Scots Jon Hammond and Matt Thomson has qualified for tomorrow's main event, which kicks-off at 8:30 German time.



Grand Prix wins for Sinclair & Cole-Hamiltion
15th May 2008

Martin Sinclair won two out of two SSRA Grand Prix matches at the weekend, 1140 + 94.6 in the Men's Three Positions unchallenged, and 594 + 105.4 seeing off the challenge of Dave Caughey and James Henderson in the Prone Grand Prix.  Emma Cole-Hamilton won the Women's 3x20 match, with 567 + 92.8, and Beverley Burnside was eight points clear in the C&D Grand Prix, with Jon Malone and Fraser Cheetham picking up the silver and bronze medals.

Bill Copland was the highest scorer of the day in the Open section, winning Class A with 595, four points clear of Martin, with David Cummings third with 589.  Class B was won by Robin Honhold, three points ahead of Ian Thomson despite incurring penalty points, with Dave Caughey third.  Roger Esson won Class C with 588 ahead of Fraser Cheetham and Beverley Burnside, while Seoc Malone won Class D ahead of Simon Batchelor and Bruce McIntosh.



Prone Team Fourth in Pilsen
9th May 2008

The Scottish team of James Paterson, Martin MacGill and Graham Rudd came fourth in the Men's Prone team today in Pilsen.  An equal personal best of 594 from James combined with 592 from both Graham and Martin gave the team a total of 1778, just two points away from the Bronze, and four points away from the Gold.

James concluded the week with a second Personal Best, 1132 in the 3x40 adding eight points to the mark set in Hannover the week previously.



Silver at English for Inglis
9th May 2008

Brian Inglis took the Silver medal in the Men's Three Positions event at the English Open Championships over the Bank Holiday weekend.  A Qualification Round of 1125 earned him a share of first place with England's 12-times Commonwealth Games medallist Chris Hector, and although Hector pulled away over the final ten shots, Brian held on to second place.



Medals in Hannover
9th May 2008

Neil Stirton and Matthew Thomson, shooting as two thirds of a Great Britain team, took silver medals in the Men's Prone team event at the recent International Shooting Competition in Hannover.  Teamed up with Welsh Commonwealth Champion Dave Phelps, the team were three points behind winners Switzerland, with the German regional team from Westphalia in third place.

Robin Honhold was the highest placed individual athlete, with sixth place in the Junior Men's Prone, while James Paterson set a new Personal Best of 1124 in the Men's 3x40.



Prone Grand Prix Classifications
16th April 2008

The Classifications for the SSRA Prone Grand Prix meetings is now available here.

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 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.

In addition, the Grand Prix for Classes C&D will be expanded to a full 60 shot match.



Multi-Discipline Championships
16th April 2008

West Atholl Rifle Club assisted by Blair Atholl Gun Club and Blair Atholl Small-bore Rifle Club will again be hosting the Scottish Multi-discipline Shooting Championships at the Jubilee Range, Blair Atholl on 17th May, 2008. NB change to Saturday this year. The course of fire will comprise:

Full-bore rifle

2 sighters and 10 rounds to count at 500x

Small-bore rifle

sighters and 10 rounds to count at 50yards

Clay target

practice and 10 clays “DTL”

Air pistol

practice and ten shots to count at 10m

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 9.30 and 3.30. Depending on entries some events may close earlier.

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. It is expected that the new electronic full-bore targets will be in use so there should be no need for butt marking but competitors may be called upon to assist as coaches or RCOs. Directions to the range may be found at www.westatholl.org.uk or obtained from the organiser.



Winter Postal Competitions
updated 16th April 2008

Further to the results posted on 6th April, cards were received from the Selkirk club, delayed for reasons outwith their control, and have been accepted.  This changes the outcome of both Class B and the Veterans.

The final results of the 2008 individual postal competitions have now been posted on the Domestic Results page.  Hugh Simpson won the Class A medal with 299, one ahead of a three-way tie for second place.  Jim Michael won Class B with 296 for a one point lead.  Class C was more clear-cut, Ian Henderson romping home with 296 and a six point lead, while Simon Batchelor cleaned up in Class D, with 290 for the same winning margin.

297 was required to win the Veterans, Bill Vaughan taking the title, while 296 was good enough for the Junior section, Rory McAlpine the victor, and Pat Gray was the most consistent shooter in the CanDicap, a net total of 300 just enough to take victory.  Donald McIntosh won the Short Range 3P title, 399 prone and 393 kneeling making up for some rather low scoring standing.



Bon Accord take British Team Championship
7th April 2008

Bon Accord won the British Team of Six Championship for the "News of the World" trophy yesterday in Wigan.  In a repeat of the Scottish Cup last month, only two of the four teams who qualified for the semi-finals were able to attend, leaving Bon the task of beating Marlow for the championship - something they achieved by a margin of 1175 to 1165.

In the Individual Championship, Hugh Simpson was third, with Nick Baker and Mike Ozmond also making the top ten.



All Ranges Open & Inter-Region Matches
7th April 2008

On Sunday 20th April the combined All-Ranges and Inter-Region matches are being held 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.



Scottish Teams for Hannover & Pilsen
7th April 2008

The following team will represent Scotland at the second International Shooting Competition in Hannover, from 30th April to 4th May:

Senior Men
Graham Rudd (Prone, 3x40 & Air)
Martin MacGill (Prone)
Sinclair Bruce (Prone)
James Paterson (Prone & 3x40)
Senior Women
Sheena Sharp (Prone, 3x20 & Air)
Susan Jackson (Prone, 3x20 & Air)
Junior Men
Robin Honhold (Prone)
Junior Women
Nicola Sammels (Prone)
Kay Copland (Prone)

The following team will represent Scotland at the Grand Prix of Liberation in Pilsen, from 7th to 11th May:

Senior Men
Graham Rudd (Prone, 3x40 & Air)
Martin MacGill (Prone)
James Paterson (Prone & 3x40)
Senior Women
Sheena Sharp (Prone, 3x20 & Air)

In addition to these teams, Matthew Thomson & Neil Stirton will be attending Hannover as part of the Great Britain team, with Neil also attending Pilsen.



Intermim Executive Officer Appointed
5th April 2008

The Association are delighted to announce that Ian Henderson of Larbert & District Rifle Club has been appointed as Acting Executive Officer.  Ian has been co-opted onto Council to fill one of the existing vacancies, and has agreed to fulfil this role in the interim, through until the AGM, where he will stand for election.  The AGM will be held on the first Saturday of the NSRA Scottish Meeting in Dumfries, and official notification will be issued to members in due course.



Scottish Short Range League completed
4th April 2008

The Team Postal League has just concluded its programme and there were some close results in the run-in.  In Division 1 Watsonians A led for the first seven rounds and were four points ahead of nearest challengers Callander A.  Two lost matches later, including one to Callander, they were tied on points and down on aggregate and suddenly in second place. The key match in round 10 was Bon Accord v Callander, and it proved to be decisive as the Aberdeen team won it with a fine score of 396 (including three 100s) to let Watsonians, who sneaked past Banff in their last match, win this league for the third year in succession.  Callander can consider themselves unlucky as they had by far the best aggregate.

In Division 2. Selkirk were the best scorers, and could afford to lose their last match to second-placed Clachnacuddin A, to win by one point in a two-horse race. 

Larbert & District 'owned' Division 3, only dropping three points (the one match lost being due to a disqualified card), and finished well ahead of Edinburgh University A and Callander B. 

Division 4 was the closest - Orkney A tied with Alloa & District B on 14 points each and islanders won by only 10 points on aggregate - only one point per round. Steeple were not far behind and if Watsonians B (who had the second best aggregate) had not lost their last three matches, two by only one point, to the three teams who finished above them, it might have been a different story. 

Division 5 saw Orkney's B team pretty-well walk away with it, leaving Clachnacuddin C and Aberdeen University in their wake.



Hammond fifth in Brazil
25th March 2008

Jon Hammond came fifth in the Men's Prone at at the ISSF World Cup in Rio De Janeiro.  A qualification round of 596 earned him a share of third place before the final, to which he added 102.5 for fifth place.

This was Jon's first World Cup final, following on from his fourth place at the European Championships last summer, and is an excellent start to his Olympic campaign.

As report below, Jon now has a short turnaround from South America over to South East Asia.  The British rifle shooters selected for the second World Cup, in Beijing, will first visit Macau for a short holding camp at the venue which will be used by the British Olympic Association prior to the Games in August.

Elsewhere, Neil Stirton and Emma Cole-Hamilton are part of the British squad heading for a training camp in Granada from 7th to 13th April.  They will be joined by Robin Honhold and Ollie Barron, who have been invited to attend the camp as guests following on from their performances in Dortmund earlier in the month.



Hammond & Thomson head for Beijing
23rd March 2008

Jon Hammond and Matt Thomson are two of the three British rifle shooters selected by British Shooting for the ISSF World Cup in Beijing, which will be held between 10th and 21st April.  Jon will take part in all three Men's rifle events - Air, Prone and 3x40 - with Matt competing in the Prone.



Gold for Thomson in Dortmund
17th March 2008

The Scottish rifle shooters attending the International Start of Season Match (ISAS) in Dortmund had an extremely constructive week of competition.  A nine strong Scottish team was entered alongside an almost full-strength Great Britain team featuring a further three Scots.

The undoubted highlight of the week was Matthew Thomson’s win in the Men’s 50m Prone Rifle event – Matthew’s first international victory as a senior. The 2006 World Under-21 Champion shot an excellent qualification score of 597 out of a possible 600 in the 60 shot match to enter the eight person final in third place. His final was of a standard rarely seen in any international matches, and lifted him clear of the field, leaving 2000 Olympic Three Positions Champion Rajmond Debevec trailing in third place.

There were excellent performances elsewhere in the team – Emma Cole-Hamilton shot extremely well in the Prone and Kneeling sections of the Women’s Three Positions match, with a score of 574 her highest for 18 months. Graham Rudd also started to show some signs of excellent form, recording a score of 1148 despite a poor Prone section in the Men’s Three Positions match.

There were excellent performances also in the Junior events, with Ollie Barron and Robin Honhold both tied on 591 in the Junior Men’s Prone, coming 4th and 8th respectively, and Jennifer McIntosh setting new Personal Best scores of 387 and 589 in both the Junior Women’s Air Rifle and Junior Women’s Prone matches respectively.



Scottish Championships for Cole-Hamilton & Bon Accord
17th March 2008

The NSRA Scottish Short Range Individual and Team of Six Championships were held yesterday at Denwood.  Jim Cole-Hamilton was a clear winner in the individual, with 398, ahead of Mike Ozmond on 396 and James Paterson, Ian Shanks and John Sinclair on 395.

The junior title, decided on the second postal stage, went to Ollie Barron.

Of the four teams that had qualified for the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup, neither Wick Old Stagers or Callander were able to field a team on the day, leaving Halkirk to take on Bon Accord in the final, the home team winning by 1169 to 1154.



Air Rifle & Air Pistol Grand Prix Series completed
17th March 2008

Mark Joyce and Robin Law took the honours in the final Air Rifle & Pistol Grand Prix of the winter, successfully defending their series titles from the previous season.  Robin came close to his best form with a solid 588 and with a 16 point lead over Steven Watterson going into the final he was effectively unchallenged.  Things were a little closer in the Air Pistol, where Bruce McIntosh started the match on top of the points table, but Mark Joyce took an eight point lead into the final and secured the 9 points to overhaul Bruce at the last.



Teams for North Island New Zealand Match
17th March 2008

The following teams represented Scotland in the annual postal international match against a team from the North Island of New Zealand:

Main Team
Dave Caughey
Jim Cole-Hamilton
Bill Copland
David Cummings
Scott Dixon
James Henderson
Tom Hodgson
Tim Kidner
Gordon Motion
Mike Ozmond
James Paterson
Ronnie Sellar
John Sinclair
Robin Thomson
Bill Vaughan
Reserves:
Kay Copland

Callum Rose
Junior Team
Kay Copland
Andrew Laurie
Ian McDougall
Callum Rose
Andrew Ross

The results will be announced once the Kiwis have shot their cards in September.  Congratulations to Andrew Laurie, Ian McDougall, Callum Rose & Andrew Ross for making their first appearance in the Junior team.  Top scorers for Scotland were Gordon Motion in the main team and Ian McDougall in the Junior team.



British Team of Four Final
17th March 2008

The final of the British Team of Four for the Burroughs & Watts cup will be contested between Bon Accord and Callander.  The cards have to be shot during the first half of April, so a result should be announced in about four - five weeks time.



Scottish Record for Forth & Clyde
17th March 2008

The Forth & Clyde county team have raised their own Scottish Record in the NSRA Inter-County Air Rifle League.  The team, consisting of Robin Law, Jennifer McIntosh, Donald McIntosh, Tricia Littlechild and Cliff Ogle, scored 1434 in Round 7, raising the record by four points.



Speedway Wins for Cummings and Ross
3rd March 2008

David Cummings won the "Speedway" Scottish Short Range Matchplay Championships held yesterday at the Balerno & Currie club on the outskirts of Edinburgh.  David won 24 points from the five matches, giving him a one point lead over last year's winner Bill Copland, with a late charge giving Ollie Barron third place one further point behind. 

The matchplay format can be harsh - the best aggregate of the day was Hugh Simpson with 989, two points ahead of David, but the timing of his scores meant that he ended up in eighth place!

The Class C&D event was won by Andrew Ross, with Fraser Cheetham having to settle for the runner-up spot for the second year running, with Ian Henderson in third place.



Personal Best for Hammond at European Championships
1st March 2008

Jon Hammond shot a personal best of 585 in the Men's Air Rifle at the European Championships in Winterthur, SUI, earlier today.  Although not competitive in a match that saw the World Record of 600 equalled by Denis Sokolov of Russia, this secures Jon a Minimum Qualification Score in this event for the Olympic Games, and should he be selected for Beijing he will be able to take part in all three of the men's rifle events.



British Championship for McIntosh
25th February 2008

Jennifer McIntosh became British Junior Air Rifle Champion at Bisley last Sunday, at the age of 16.  A qualification round of 385 set a new Personal Best, and gave her a one point lead going into the ten-shot final over Hannah Pugsley, with Rebekah Pidgley one point further behind.  After a closely fought final, during which it appeared at times that all three girls might be able to extend a lead, Jennifer and Hannah were tied for first place.  A sudden-death tie-shot was required, Jennifer taking the title with 10.1 to Hannah's 8.8.

Graham Rudd also featured on the podium, with second in the Senior Men's event to 17 year old James Huckle.  Graham narrowly fended off the challenge of third placed Chris Hector, who was tied with him after nine shots in the final.  Sheena Sharp was the other Scottish finalist, taking 6th place in the Senior Women's event.

Elsewhere over the weekend, Jennifer won Class B comfortably, and featured along side Emma Cole-Hamilton and Graham Rudd in the Scottish team that came second to England in the Home Countries match.  Jennifer and Emma were joined by Sheena in the Scottish Ladies team, also coming second to England, with the highest Scottish team score to date in this match.  Sheena also made it a Home Countries double, appearing alongside fellow Commonwealth Games rifle medallist Janis Thomson and Caroline Brownlie in the Scottish Air Pistol Ladies team!

A summary of the Home Countries international results can be found here.



Scottish team for ISAS
19th February 2008

A Scottish smallbore rifle team will be attending the ISAS International Match in Dortmund for the first time in a number of years.  The team is:

Senior Men
Graham Rudd (Prone, 3x40 & Air)
Martin MacGill (Prone)
Senior Women
Sheena Sharp (Prone, 3x20 & Air)
Susan Jackson (Prone, 3x20 & Air)
Junior Men
Robin Honhold (Prone)
Ollie Barron (Prone)
Rory McAlpine (Prone)
Junior Women
Nicola Sammels (Prone)
Jennifer McIntosh (Air & Prone)

They will be accompanied by coaches Donald McIntosh and Sinclair Bruce.  Neil Stirton, Matthew Thomson and Emma Cole-Hamilton will also be competing, as part of the Great Britain team.  The match takes place between 10th and 16th March.



Final appearance for Rudd
19th February 2008

Graham Rudd completed a very steady series of performances at Intershoot with an appearance in the final on the third day.  Three consecutive scores of 589 were the most consistently high scoring performance from Graham to date, taking eleventh place on each of the first two days and eighth place on the final day.



McIntosh and Law take the lead in the Air Grand Prix series
19th February 2008

Bruce McIntosh and Robin Law took the lead in the Air Pistol and Air Rifle Grand Prix series respectively with wins at the fourth event of the winter, held in Dumfries on the 10th of February.  The final event will be held at Glenrothes on the 9th of March.



Rudd competes in The Netherlands
6th February 2008

Graham Rudd will represent Scotland in the The Netherlands this week, at the Intershoot competition.  This Air Rifle & Pistol match is held annually in The Hague, and for the first time will be shot entirely on electronic targets.  Graham joins a small team of Pistol shooters in representing Scotland, and full details can be found on www.intershoot.nl.



Successful Scottish Title defence for Cole-Hamilton & Rudd
20th January 2008

Emma Cole-Hamilton and Graham Rudd successfully defended their Scottish Air Rifle Championships at Tulliallan over the weekend.  Earlier in the weekend Emma had broken her own Scottish Women's record, raising it by a point to 392, and although her championship qualifier was a little lower at 388 she entered the final four points ahead of Jennifer McIntosh, with Sheena Sharp in third place.  The additional ten shots saw no changes in position, with Jennifer winning the Junior title in addition to taking the Senior silver.

In the Men's event, Graham Rudd had a comfortable lead of eight points going into the final with 584, with Donald McIntosh just ahead of Robin Law with 576 and 575 respectively.  Robin overtook Donald on the first shot of the final, and remained in second place to the end.  Callum Seale took the Junior Men's title.  Full results can be found here.

As a precursor to the Prize Giving, six of the initial inductees to the SSRA Hall of Fame were presented with commemorative badges and certificates.



Venue for 2012 Olympic Games
9th January 2008

Many visitors to this site will be aware that the proposed venue for the Shooting events at the 2012 Olympic Games is a temporary facility constructed at Woolwich Barracks.  This site will not provide a suitable venue, however despite the best efforts of British Shooting and it's member bodies, the organisers are insistent that Woolwich will be the venue.  This will leave Shooting in this country with no lasting legacy unlike the majority of other Olympic sports. 

An E petition to move the venue has been uploaded onto the 10 Downing St website: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/OlympicShooting



NATSS Consultation
9th January 2008

Under the guise of the National Association of Target Shooting Sports (NATSS), the Clay Pigeon Shooting Association (which governs Clay Target shooting in England), the National Rifle Association and the National Small-bore Rifle Association are participating in a programme to shape the future of target shooting in the UK and examine the potential, like most sports today, for a ‘common vision, common voice’ strategy for the future of our sport.

As this first stage in the process, an Open Forum was staged at the Bisley National Shooting Centre with the aim of gathering approximately 100 representatives, evenly drawn from amongst the three governing bodies, to launch the programme of work, and to give a wider audience the chance to hear about, and react to, the work planned.  The SSRA was represented by its Chairman, Ian Thomson.  A report on the Forum may be viewed by clicking here.

The second stage of the consultation process is the launch of an online survey. You can access this by using the following link: Online Survey.



Cole-Hamilton and Joyce win at Denwood
7th January 2008

Emma Cole-Hamilton and Mark Joyce started 2008 with wins in the Air Grand Prix at Denwood last Saturday.  Emma broke Tricia Littlechild's nine year old record for the ten shot final, with an excellent 103.4, taking the nine points in the rifle event.  Robin Law secured his third consecutive second place to move up to equal first in the Rifle series with two events remaining.  In the Pistol series, Mark moved one ahead of Jennifer Pearson.



Scottish Air Rifle Championships
7th January 2008

The Scottish 10m Air Rifle Championships are being held at the Scottish Police College, Tulliallan, on the 19th and 20th of this month.  The programme includes an Aggregate competition of two 60 shot matches, in four classes, along with the Scottish Open and Scottish Confined Championships for Men and Women in both Senior and Junior categories.

Entries are due by the 12th of January, entries received after that date will be accepted, but a late entry fee will be charged.  Please contact Donald McIntosh for an entry form if you do not already have one.



Commonwealth Youth Games 2008
7th January 2008

Information relating to the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games is available on the Scottish Target Shooting website.