News Archive - 2002
Air Rifle & Pistol Grand
Prix
Robin Law maintained his unbeaten record in the Air
Rifle Grand Prix Series, winning the second event at Denwood in Aberdeen on
Sunday 15th December. Emma Cole-Hamilton raised her own Scottish record
for in the final, setting a new mark of 94.0.
A good entry in the air pistol produced a win
for Bruce McIntosh, but despite this event being accredited for GB National
Squad selection - one of only two events so accredited in Scotland this season -
not one of the Scottish Air Pistol squad took part.
Senior A-Squad Announced
The new Scottish Senior A-Squad for 2003 has
been announced. There are only two changes in the Women's squad, with
Carol McKenna being added for prone, while Barbara Mackay has declined her
place. The only changes in the Men's squad are as a result of the prone
squad being reduced to five, with Bill Brown and Simon Clark dropping out.
Neil Stirton had already intimated that he would be taking a year out, and is
spending some time in Japan.
It is intended that there will be a small
Under-25 A-Squad which will train alongside the Senior A-Squad, and that will be
named within the next few days.
Scottish Sports Hall of Fame
On 30th November, the inaugural 50 inductees to
the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame were announced, and included SSRA life member
Alister Allan - a double Olympic medallist and former Commonwealth, European and
World Champion. Alister remains the most successful ever Scottish athlete
at the Commonwealth Games, having won ten medals between 1974 and 1994.
Air Rifle & Pistol Grand
Prix
Robin Law started the 2002/3 Air
Rifle Grand Prix Series where he left off at the end of last season, with a win,
narrowly defeating his Commonwealth Games partner David Rattray, who was
shooting for the first time in three months. Although the scores from the
Senior Men weren't much to write home about, full credit is due to Emma
Cole-Hamilton who absolutely destroyed all of the Junior Women's Air Rifle
records - raising the 40 shot record by 12 points to 373.
Event organiser Cyril De Jonckheere dominated
the Air Pistol, with Bill Moonie picking up second place.
Welsh Open
Robin Law's run of good form continued at the
Welsh Open in Cardiff on the 2nd and 3rd of November. Robin secured the
Welsh Open Championship, overtaking Andy Lawrence in the final, with a near
perfect performance - just one score of 9.8 keeping him from producing a
"clean" final.
Air Rifle & Pistol Grand
Prix
The 2002/3 Air Rifle & Pistol Grand Prix
series kicks of on Sunday 10th November at Callander. New for this season
will be Olympic finals for pistol, along with a points series run on the same
basis as the rifle event.
The date for the fifth event, to be held at
Glenrothes in March, has now been confirmed as the 23rd, and not the 16th as provisionally
indicated on the entry forms.
NSRA Inter-Region Match
Robin Law started a return to form at the NSRA
Inter-Region Match at Aldersley on 13th October, with a win in the Men's Air
Rifle. Robin's score of 585 was 14 points clear of the field.
NSRA Summer League News
Alloa & District have successfully defended
Division One of the NSRA Scottish League - the first club other than Bon Accord
to defend it since 1975 - with Bon Accord runners up. Both teams lost one
match - to each other - with Alloa taking the championship on better aggregate,
just 24 points in 20,000 separating the teams. Top scorer in the
Alloa team was Donald McIntosh, with an average of 395.3 across the ten rounds.
Alloa narrowly missed in their attempt to defend
Division One of the NSRA 50m league, just losing out to Bedford, despite having
a better average. Top scorer for Alloa was Martin Sinclair, with an
average of 396.2, including one round of 400 and another of 399.
News of other clubs efforts in the National
summer leagues would be welcome!
North Island New Zealand Match
News has recently arrived from New Zealand that
Scotland have lost the latest in the matches with North Island, New
Zealand. However, the one saving grace is that the Scottish Junior team
won their match. The full results are available here.
North Island have now won the last five matches in a row, and move into the lead
in the series for the first time since 1989, with 15 wins to 14.
GB Senior National
Squads announced
Eight Scots have been included
in the NSRA's Senior Rifle Squad for 2003 - Sinclair Bruce, Jim
Cole-Hamilton, Jon Hammond, Susan Jackson, Donald McIntosh, David
Rattray, Sheena Sharp and Martin Sinclair. The Scots are the largest
Home Country contingent, with England and Wales both having seven
and the Isle of Man one. The full squad can be seen here on the GBR ISSF website.
Army Match Result
Despite conditions which were
initially tricky and became progressively more difficult as the
day wore on, Scotland secured a victory against the Army in the
prone match at Bisley. Only Scotland's shooting reserve - and
Emma Cole Hamilton's chauffeur - broke 590, but solid 580+ performances
from Matthew Thomson, Carol McKenna, Jim Mudie & Ken Silver
laid the foundation for a win by 27 points.
In the 3P, the wind turned and
twisted faster and stronger. With a very inexperience team, Scotland
were seeking to blood some less experienced shooter. Good form
from Emma Cole-Hamilton and Ruth & Graham Love looked promising
but the Army were carried by Peter Underhill's 1070 to win by
4 points. Emma's performance, at the end of a very successful
debut season for her as a 3P shooter, produced two Scottish records
- beating Sarah MacDonald's 10 year old record for a junior women's
3x40, and Sarah's 11 year old record for 40 shots standing.
Full results are available here.
Army Match Selection
This year's match between Scotland
and the British Army will be held concurrent with the Inter-Services
championships at Bisley over the weekend of 14/15 September. Scotland
will be represented by the following teams:
3x40 - Emma Cole-Hamilton, Peter
Gray, Bill Long, Graham Love & Ruth Love
Prone - Charles Allan, Bill Copland,
Carol McKenna, Jim Mudie, Ken Silver, David Simpson, Matthew Thomson
& Jim Ward
Reserve - Jim Cole-Hamilton
Manager - Anne Hamilton
In addition to the Army, there
are likely to be teams in attendance from the RAF, Territorial
Army (probably including Martin Sinclair), Police Athletic Association
and England.
3P
& Prone Grand Prix V
Cliff Ogle secured the 3x40 Grand
Prix series for the first time with a comfortable win at Denwood
on Saturday 7th September. In the Prone series Jim Cole-Hamilton
secured the title for the second time, on this occasion by the
narrowest of margins as his sixth place at Gagie on Sunday 8th
September gave him a single point lead ahead of Cliff, who picked
up nine points with a win. Hamish Rae won the C&D series with
second place at Gagie.
There were some good scores at
Gagie, despite a variety of difficult light conditions, fishtailing
tail and head winds, and a passing thunderstorm. Sheena Sharp
equalled her personal best of 593 twice, winning Class B in the
Open Meeting, but losing the Grand Prix with after a suspected
bad round placed her 6th final shot in the 6th ring. Donald McIntosh
won Class A with a season's best of 594, beating Jim Cole-Hamilton
on countback.
Nordic
Junior Championships
There has been family success
in Copenhagen for sister & brother Heather & Graham Rudd
who are competing in the Nordic Junior Championships as part of
the GB team. Heather won individual silver in the Women's Prone,
but can feel a little aggrieved as she lost the gold after a ten-shot
final, not normally shot in this discipline. Heather also picked
up silver in the team event.
Older brother Graham couldn't
do enough to win an individual medal, coming 7th in the Men's
Prone, but picked up a Gold in the team event.
Wakefield
Match
Two Scots have been included in
the British team for the annual Wakefield prone match. The match,
shot against Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa,
consists of a team of ten, each shooting 60 shots prone at 50m,
and is unique in that each team member shoots on their home range.
Martin Sinclair has qualified for the team via the NSRA 50m league,
where his first five rounds averaged 396, including a perfect
400 in round 3. Neil Stirton qualified for the team via the National
Meeting at Bisley, where he was 5th in the X Class Aggregate.
Grampian
Open
The Grampian Open & SSRA Prone
Grand Prix IV held at Denwood on Sunday 25th August produced many
fine performances, a number of personal bests and two Scottish
records.
Jim Cole-Hamilton won the Grand
Prix, entering the final with a score of 595 - one of nine 590+
scores recorded in that match - and produced a stunning final
of 105.9 for an aggregate total of 700.9, just 0.3 in front of
Martin Sinclair's two year old Scottish record. This puts Jim
8 points clear in the Prone GP series with one event remaining
- only Ken Silver is capable of beating Jim now, with Cliff Ogle,
Cyril De Jonckheere and John Sinclair capable of equalling him,
all provided Jim secures no points at Gagie in two weeks!
Jim's final was upstaged however
by Cyril De Jonckheere - rejuvenated by a combination of his recent
retirement and a new barrel - who equalled the seven year old
Scottish record for a prone final with a score of 106.1. This
pulled Cyril up from 7th to 4th, just 0.1 behind Ken Silver, who
had produced a personal best of 594. Neil Stirton, with a season's
best of 595, secured second place and an MQS for GB squad selection.
The high standard of shooting
was not restricted to the Grand Prix - fifteen year old Tom Hunter
produced an excellent 395 to secure the C&D Class Grand Prix,
and there were ten scores of 590+ in the Grampian Open. Class
A was won by Gordon Motion, with a personal best of 594, beating
Bill Copland - also with a PB of 594 - on countback. Susan Jackson
was third with 593, which should secure her number one ranking
in the GB women's prone squad for 2003, just in front of her Commonwealth
Games partner Sheena Sharp.
3
Positions Grand Prix, August
Susan Jackson recorded a qualifying
score for the GB Squad in the 3x20 at SSRA 3P Grand Prix IV in
Aberdeen on Saturday 24th August. Her score of 565 saw her a comfortable
winner from England's Helen Vincent.
In the 3x40 event Donald McIntosh
incurred four penalty points for too many shots on the same diagram,
but despite this recorded personal best scores in the standing
and for the 3x40 aggregate, and an equal personal best in the
kneeling. A poor final from Donald was punished by Martin Sinclair
however, who turned an eight point deficit into a half point advantage.
Simon Clark and Peter Gray also set personal best scores, with
1092 and 1090 respectively. This meeting was the final one in
the GB squad selection circuit, and should place Martin and Donald
at first and second respectively in the GB rankings.
With one event remaining in the
Scottish GP series, Martin has a two point lead over Cliff Ogle.
The final event will be held in Aberdeen on Saturday 7th September.
British
Record - Ratified
The British record set by Alloa
in the British 50m Prone League has been ratified by the NSRA.
Nordic
Junior Championships
Two Scots have been included in
the GB team for the Nordic Junior Championships which will be
held during early September in Copenhagen. Brother and sister
Graham and Heather Rudd will compete in the prone events.
World
Universities Championships
The first World Universities Championships
were scheduled to be held in the Czech Republic in September,
but have been cancelled following the extensive flooding across
central Europe. Three Scots had been included in the five strong
team - Jonathan Hammond to shoot Prone, 3x40 and Air; Neil Stirton
and Simon Clark to shoot Prone. There has been no word as yet
of any plans to reschedule the event.
National
Meeting - International Matches & Earl Roberts Final
The Scottish Under 21 Team defended
the Home Countries match, a score of 1159 convincingly defeating
Wales on 1127 and England on 1126. Scotland were less fortunate
in the Main and Ladies Internationals, losing both to England
- the Main team with 3881 (a Scottish record score) to England's 3894, the Ladies with 1914
to England's 1929.
Neil Stirton completed a good
week with 3rd place in the Earl Roberts British Prone Championship,
which was won by England's Simon Bailey. Graham Rudd was the leading
Under-21 competitor in the Roberts, with Keith Johnston third
in the Class BCD final.
The Double English Match, shot
unsquadded on the Malcolm Cooper Range, was won by Matthew Thomson,
who also won the A Class section. The Unsquadded 3x20 was won
by Martin Sinclair, with 575, while Graham Love won Class D with
548.
National
Meeting - Grand Agg Report
With the Grand Agg complete there
are some Scots sitting well placed. In X Class Neil Stirton has
climbed to 5th. In A Class Ken Silver is 2nd, with Cyril De Jonckheere
3rd and Sheena Sharp 4th. In C Class Charles Allan is 3rd, and
- saving the best for last - Keith Johnston has won D Class.
The Scottish Teams for the Home
Countries Prone matches are as follows:
Main Team - Neil Stirton, Ken
Silver, Bill Brown, Hugh Simpson, Sheena Sharp, Carol McKenna,
Cyril De Jonckheere, Bill Hamilton, Mel Mutch & Jim Ward.
Ladies Team - Sheena Sharp, Carol
McKenna, Heather Rudd, Mary Melvin & Lucy Martin
Junior Team - Graham Rudd, Hugh
A Simpson & Matthew Thomson.
British
Record
In Round 6 of the National 50m
League Alloa & District appear to have beaten the British
Record score by one point - it still has to be ratified by the
NSRA. The team of Sinclair Bruce, Martin Sinclair, Donald McIntosh,
Eddie Jones & Robin Law recorded a score of 1981, which is
also nine points higher than the Scottish record - set in 1992
by an E U Alumni team that also included Donald McIntosh.
Intershoot
The Association would like to
thank Ronald de Vos and John Speetjens in The Netherlands who
have trawled the archives of the Intershoot competition in response
to our plea for help with Scottish Caps. Amongst the information
unearthed were additional caps for current squad members Robin
Law and David Rattray, along with former internationalists including
Ian Shirra-Gibb and Alister Allan.
If anyone nearer to home would
like to take inspiration from our Dutch colleagues, we are still
looking for information on the following:
ISAS (Dortmund)
- 1996 (Sunday only) & 1997
CSF(ED) Championships
- 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980
NSRA Air Rifle
Championships - 1975
National
Meeting - Grand Agg Progress Report
After the first two days there
are some Scots within striking distance of the Grand Aggregate.
Neil Stirton leads the way in X Class at 7th, with Carol McKenna
13th and Hugh Simpson 15th. In A Class Cyril De Jonckheere is
sitting 4th, with Ken Silver and Sheena Sharp just behind in 5th
and 6th respectively. Heather Rudd is sitting in 7th place in
C Class with Charles Allan in 9th.
The Aggregate continues on Wednesday
with a 60 shot match at 50m, concluding on Thursday with a 60
shot match at 100 yards.
National
Meeting - 3 Position Round-up
Martin Sinclair produced a welcome
return to form after the disappointments of the Commonwealth Games,
securing his second British NSRA 3P Championship in three years
with a personal best score of 1158, which also included a personal
best in the kneeling of 386. This performance left him thirteen
points clear of the field, and ensured that the Scottish team
of Martin, Donald McIntosh (4th with 1132) and Jon Hammond retained
the Home Countries title. Graham Love, making his 3P debut at
Bisley, won Class D, equalling his personal best of 1083 (set
the day before).
In the Women's 3x20 match, poorly
attended following the Games, Lynda Sinclair lost out on the title
on countback with a score of 554. A scratch Scottish team of Lynda,
Shirley McIntosh - shooting for the first time since March - and
Ruth Love unexpectedly won the Ladies Home Countries match when
one of the England team failed to turn up and no reserve had been
nominated!
GB
Junior Match
Graham Rudd produced some promising
performances in the GB Junior Match at Bisley between the 6th
and 9th of August. Graham picked up individual bronze in the Air
Rifle with 561 + 100.1, silver in the 3x40 with 1095 + 87.5 and
gold in the prone with 592 + 103.0. Graham's younger sister Heather
won the women's prone with 586.
NSRA/Eley
Inter-Region Match
Cliff Ogle took 3rd place in the
Men's 3x40 at the NSRA/Eley Inter-Region Match at Bisley on Friday
9th August. In the Men's Prone Jon Hammond and Cliff were just
out of the medal placings, with 4th and 5th respectively.
National
Meeting
The Scottish team for the 3x40
Home Countries International will be Jon Hammond, Donald McIntosh
& Martin Sinclair, with Donald acting as team Captain. This
will be Jon's final shoot in the UK before leaving for the USA
where he will be taking up a shooting scholarship at West Virginia
University.
Commonwealth
Games
All the news and photographs from
the Commonwealth Games are on the STSF site. Click here to be taken there.
Caithness
Open and SSRA Prone Grand Prix
Old dogs Bill Moonie and Bill
Hamilton took advantage of the absence of the CG contingent to
sneak into the finals only to show they'd been flying false colours
for some years by putting in scores which gained each 3 places
and would credit any of Scotland's finest, in testing conditions.
John Sinclair, local range specialist, put in his spade work in
the English Match for a 4 point lead and kept his head to emerge
the winner by 0.6 (AMH).
Hampshire
Open
Martin Sinclair produced a personal
best performance of 1155, including a personal best of 378 in
the Standing, to win the last 3x40 match prior to the Commonwealth
Games at the Hampshire Open in Basingstoke. Martin then went on
to equal his personal best of 597 in the Prone event the following
day, also winning that, with Jonathan Hammond and Jim Cole-Hamilton
third and fourth respectively - both with on 595.
International
Match Week, Karstula
There were some good Scottish
performances at the International Match Week in Karstula, Finland.
Sinclair Bruce equalled his personal best of 597 in the Men's
Prone to win the second match period, with Jim Cole-Hamilton second.
In the Women's Prone Susan Jackson won the second period with
593, one point off the Scottish record. Susan also set two personal
bests in the 3x20, with 566 during the first period and 570 with
the second, the latter also a winning performance.
3
Positions Grand Prix
The third 3P Grand Prix event
of the year produced some fine scores, with Jon Hammond winning
the 3x40 with a season's best of 1150, with Martin Sinclair -
also with a season's best - and Donald McIntosh second and third
respectively. Cliff Ogle produced probably the best standing final
ever shot in the UK, with a superb 100.1.
Emma Cole-Hamilton won the 3x20,
setting two now Scottish Junior Women's records in the process.
NSRA
Scottish Meeting
The Earl Haig Scottish Championships
was won by Jim Mudie, beating Jon Hammond in a tie-shoot, with
Martin Sinclair one point behind.
In the Aggregate competitions,
Jim Mudie won Class B, Jamie Cole-Hamilton won Class C and Richard
Scott won Class D.
The Home Countries Matches were
both won by England. Wick Old Stagers won both the Scottish 50m
and 100yd team titles, while Lothian won the County Sextette.
Results of some of these matches
are available here.
NSRA
Scottish Meeting
The following teams will represent
Scotland in the Home Countries matches at the NSRA Scottish Meeting
in Lauder:
Main Team |
Martin Sinclair |
Jonathan Hammond |
Bill Hamilton |
Bill Copland |
Jim Mudie |
Hugh Simpson |
Trevor Hastings |
Gordon Motion |
Matthew Thomson |
Hamish Rae |
|
Ladies Team |
Lynda Sinclair |
Lucy Martin |
Mary Melvin |
Karen Nilsen |
Emma Cole-Hamilton |
|
No Under-21 match will take place,
as Scotland was the only country able to field a team.
The SSRA "Freuchie"
competition was won by Bill Copland, with Jim Mudie second and
Greg Scott third. In the C&D section, Charles Allan was the
winner, with Greg Scott second and Simon Batchelor third.
"Dewar"
International Match
Six Scots qualified for the British
team in the annual postal "Dewar" match. Jim Cole-Hamilton,
Sinclair Bruce, Bill Hamilton, Donald McIntosh, Neil Stirton and
Bill Brown all shot in the match on Saturday 22nd June at the
Appleton range near Warrington.
International
Match Week, Karstula, Finland
Jim Cole-Hamilton, Susan Jackson
and Sinclair Bruce will form the Scottish team at the International
Match Week in Karstula from 1st to 7th July.
Annual
General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting of
the SSRA will be held in the Black Bull Hotel, Lauder, at 7:30pm
on Sunday 30th June 2002. Formal notices will be issued to all
current members and affiliated clubs shortly.
Scottish
50m Championships (Day 2)
Day 2 of the Scottish 50m Championships
saw both titles changing hands - both winners being the nominated
reserves for the Commonwealth Games! Martin Sinclair won the Men's
Prone, completing the Prone & 3x40 double for the first time,
an excellent final pulling him ahead of Jim Cole-Hamilton and
Sinclair Bruce.
In the Women's 3x20, Susan Jackson
entered the final with a four point lead, and extended it with
some fine shooting, Janis Thomson and Lynda Sinclair taking second
and third respectively. Emma Cole-Hamilton, shooting in her first
ever 3x20 match, set a Scottish Junior Women's finals of 628.1.
Scottish
50m Championships (Day 1)
Both of the Scottish 50m titles
decided on Day 1 of these Championships were retained by the 2001
winners. Sheena Sharp dominated the Women's Prone, winning by
a six point margin, with Carol McKenna and Susan Jackson in second
and third respectively.
Martin Sinclair retained the 3x40
title but had to work a little harder, entering the final with
a single point lead, but extending it comfortably. This is Martin's
four consecutive 3x40 title, and his 5th in the last 6 years.
Jonathan Hammond and Donald McIntosh were second and third respectively.
NSRA
ISSF Meeting (Day 2)
There was greater Scottish success
on the second day of the NSRA ISSF Meeting. Martin Sinclair led
the Men's Prone event going into the final, and remained there
throughout the additional ten shots, winning his fourth NSRA ISSF
title in the six years of this championship. Bill Brown qualified
for the final in 8th place, but couldn't do enough to move up
from there.
In the Women's 3x20 Janis Thomson
entered the final in 4th place, moving up to 3rd by the end. Lynda
Sinclair and Susan Jackson were 5th and 6th respectively.
NSRA
ISSF Meeting (Day 1)
There was limited Scottish success
on the first day of the NSRA ISSF Meeting. Donald McIntosh led
the 3x40 event going into the final, but a wayward 2nd shot cost
him dearly, dropping to 3rd place at the end. Jonathan Hammond
and Martin Sinclair took 4th and 5th respectively.
In the Women's Prone Sheena Sharp
was best placed, with 4th, Janis Thomson the taking 8th.
Martin Sinclair, Donald McIntosh,
Jonathan Hammond, Sinclair Bruce, Jim Cole-Hamilton, Bill Brown,
Gordon Motion and Graham Rudd have all qualified for the qualification
round of the Men's Prone.
Angus
Open
Martin Sinclair won the second
3x40 Grand Prix by the skin of his teeth, at Denwood on 1st June,
beating Cliff Ogle by one point. At Gagie the next day, Jim Cole-Hamilton
was dominant, winning the Angus Open and the second Prone Grand
Prix. Hugh Simpson came second in the Prone Grand Prix, with Martin
Sinclair third. Full results will be posted as soon as possible.
World
Championship Selections
Three Scots, Sheena Sharp, Graham
Rudd & David Rattray, have been included in a very small GB
team for the World Championships, which will be held in Finland
in early July. Sheena will form part of the Women's Prone team,
Graham part of the Junior Men's Prone team, while David will be
the sole GB representative in the Men's Air Rifle.
Atlanta
World Cup
Martin Sinclair recorded an Olympic
Minimum Qualifying Score in the Men's Prone event at the Atlanta
World Cup on Tuesday 21st May.
Hampshire
Open Meetings
Jim Cole-Hamilton and Bill Brown
were second and third respectively at the Hampshire Open at Headley
Park on Sunday 19th May. Sheena Sharp won the women's event, with
Carol McKenna second. Janis Thomson came 3rd in the 3x20 at Basingstoke
on Saturday 18th May.
Local
Sports Council Awards
Aberdeenshire Sports Council have
recognised the achievements of Bon Accord Rifle Club and Sheena
Sharp by awarding them "Team of the Year" and "Female
Athlete of the Year" for 2001.
Further south, Donald McIntosh
was runner up in the Falkirk Sports Council "Personality
of the Year" awards.
Forth
& Clyde Open Meeting
The inaugural indoor prone open
meeting of the recently formed Forth & Clyde Target Sports
Association was held at Bridge of Allan on Sunday 19th May. The
class winners were as follows:
Class A - W Crawford
Class B - N McMillan
Class C - P Coupe
Class D - E Anderson
Veteran - F Howden
Junior - S Reilly
Commonwealth
Games Nominations
The SSRA has made the following
nominations for the 2002 Commonwealth Games team:
|
Women |
Men |
Prone |
Susan Jackson
Sheena Sharp |
Sinclair Bruce
Jim Cole-Hamilton |
3 Positions |
Lynda Sinclair
Janis Thomson |
Donald McIntosh
Martin Sinclair |
Air Rifle |
No Nominations |
Robin Law
David Rattray |
The nominations will be considered
by the Scottish Target Shooting Federation before being made to
the Commonwealth Games Council for Scotland.
Universities
News
The University smallbore shooting
season came to an end with close competition at the Scottish and
British Universities Outdoor Championships. St Andrews won the
Scottish Main Team event by three points (out of 6400!) from Edinburgh,
who dominated the Quartets and Ladies Team events. Neil Stirton
(Aberdeen) coped superbly with wintry conditions to win the Overall
Individual title, with Sarah Bates (St Andrews) winning the Ladies.
More benign conditions were experienced
at Appleton RC for the British event, won by Southampton, with
St Andrews second and Edinburgh fourth. Another commanding Ladies
triad score from Edinburgh saw them take Team and Ladies Individual
(Suzie Marshall).
The Winter season had concluded
in March, with Edinburgh winning the Scottish and British Indoor
Championships and the Scottish Universities League - the latter
in one of the closest contests for many years. St. Andrews took
Division One of the British Universities Postal League.
Denwood
Open
With almost all of the Scottish
A Squad at the English Open, and the remaining two busy with University
finals, the Denwood Open was not all that well attended. Cliff
Ogle, who will miss this years Commonwealth Games after 5 consecutive
appearances for Northern Ireland, won the 3x40 Grand Prix, the
Prone Open and the Prone Grand Prix. Cyril De Jonckheere came
second in the Prone Grand Prix, with Ken Silver third. Full results
will be posted as soon as possible.
English
Open Championships
Almost all of the Scottish A Squad
attended the English Open Championships over the weekend of the
4th to 6th May in preference to the 3P and Prone events at Denwood,
as the event was held on the Commonwealth Games range, and is
the last match to be held before the SSRA makes its nominations
for the Commonwealth Games team.
It was a relatively successful
weekend for the Scots, with medal placings in all five events
entered. Janis Thomson led the way, winning the Women's Prone
and taking second in the Women's 3x20. Martin Sinclair also medalled
twice, with second in the Men's Prone and third in the Men's 3x40.
The medal complement was completed by Sheena Sharp, with third
in the Women's Prone, and David Rattray with second in the Men's
Air Rifle. Top eight placings were also recorded by Jim Cole-Hamilton,
Donald McIntosh, Robin Law, Jonathan Hammond, Susan Jackson, Carol
McKenna & Lynda Sinclair.
World
Cup Selections
Martin Sinclair and Donald McIntosh
have been selected for British team to compete at the third World
Cup of 2002, which will be held on the 1996 Olympic ranges in
Atlanta. Martin will compete in the Prone and 3x40, Donald in
the 3x40.
David Rattray has been selected
for the British team to compete at the fourth and final World
Cup of 2002, which will be held in Milan. David will compete in
the Air Rifle.
British
Free Rifle Club Open
Martin Sinclair kick started his
season, winning the 3x40 at the British Free Rifle Club Open over
the weekend of the 20th & 21st April. Lynda Sinclair marked
her return to competitive shooting, recording her first 3x20 and
prone scores since giving birth just four weeks previously.
In the prone matches there was
success for Sheena Sharp, who won the second match, setting a
new personal best of 592.
Scottish
Open Air Rifle Championships
Welsh Internationalist Rhian Floyd
won the Scottish Open and Ladies Open titles at the Scottish Open
Championships at Inverclyde over the weekend of 20th & 21st
April. Fellow Welsh team member Andy Lawrence came second, with
David Rattray coming third and securing the Scottish Confined
title. Shirley McIntosh won the Confined Ladies title, with Graham
Rudd winning the Open and Confined Junior events.
Full results are available here.
Summer
Competitions
Entry forms for
the Prone and 3-Positions Grand Prix events are now available.
Please contact the Secretary if you would like to
receive a copy.
British
Short Range Championships
Jim Cole-Hamilton
completed the double of the Scottish and British Short Range Championships,
winning the News of the World event at Bisley on Sunday 7th April
with a score of 399. Graham Rudd was second equal on 398, with
Neil Stirton fourth on 396.
In the team event
Bon Accord lost out in the final to Teign Valley Rifles.
In the postal
competitions Bon also won the team of eight competition, and the
result of the team of four final between Bon and Wick Old Stagers
is eagerly awaited.
Scotland
vs Bavaria
Five members of
the Scottish A squad spent four days from 4th to 7th April training
in Germany as guests of the HSG club in Munich. As part of that,
a match between Scotland and Bavaria was held on the Olympic range
in Munich, with the Scotland team bolstered by a member of the
Swiss national squad who was also training at the HSG club. Bavaria
won both matches, but the Scots came very close in the prone,
and produced the best individual score in the 3x40 with another
personal best for Donald McIntosh, and also for Simon Clark who
completed his first ever 3x40 match.
Prone |
Scotland (+ SUI) |
Bavaria |
Donald McIntosh |
592 |
Ferdinand Stipberger |
594 |
Jonathan Hammond |
588 |
Sonja Pfeilschifter |
593 |
Simon Clark |
587 |
Michael Winter |
592 |
Barbara Mackay |
586 |
Hubert Bichler |
588 |
Bill Brown |
585 |
Herbert Weber |
584 |
Peter Birchler |
584 |
Manfred Zisselberger |
576 |
Total |
3522 |
Total |
3527 |
3x40 |
Donald McIntosh |
1150 |
Michael Winter |
1147 |
Jonathan Hammond |
1139 |
Hubert Bichler |
1147 |
Peter Birchler |
1127 |
Ferdinand Stipberger |
1145 |
Simon Clark |
1087 |
Manfred Zisselberger |
1110 |
Total |
4503 |
Total |
4549 |
Isle
of Man Easter Open
The Isle of Man
Easter Open produced some fine results for the Scottish contingent.
The first prone match was won by Carol McKenna with an excellent
593, two points clear of the rest of the field.
Susan Jackson
and Donald McIntosh continued the winning streak, with victories
in the 3x20 and 3x40 respectively, both setting new Personal Bests
(563 and 1147) in the process. Susan entered her final in second
place, but pulled up to win by 0.1. Donald had an easier time,
with a 17 point lead never in any doubt.
Sinclair Bruce
led the way on the Sunday, winning the second prone match with
594, three points clear of the field.
The prone final,
using the average of the two matches as a qualification round,
produced a clean sweep for the Scots, Sinclair Bruce coming home
ahead of Jim Cole-Hamilton and Carol McKenna.
New
Arrival
The Association
would like to extend their congratulations to A-squad members
Martin and Lynda Sinclair on the recent arrival of their son,
Iain.
SSRA
"Speedway" Final
The SSRA "Speedway"
final, shot at Perth on Sunday 24th March, was won by Sinclair
Bruce, with Gordon Motion and Alasdair Horne second and third
respectively. The full results are available here.
NSRA
Scottish Short Range Championships
The finals of
the NSRA Short Range Championships were held at Denwood on Sunday
17th March. In the team event, the semi finals produced wins for
Bon Accord over Wick Old Stagers and for Watsonians against E
U Alumni. Bon Accord went on to triumph in the final, extending
their current unbeaten run to six years.
In the individual
championships, things also went the way of the Aberdeen club,
with all three of the medals going to Bon Accord members. Jim
Cole-Hamilton beat Ken Silver in a tie-shoot for first place,
with Ian Shanks in third place.
The junior event,
which was decided on the postal second stage was retained by Matthew
Thomson of George Watson's College.
Air
Rifle & Pistol Grand Prix
The final Air
Rifle & Pistol Grand Prix of the 2001/2 season was held over
the weekend of 9th & 10th March at Glenrothes. In the Rifle
event Robin Law produced a much better performance than seen for
many months, discarding his Feinwerkbau P70 in favour of his old
pneumatic 603. Donald McIntosh failed to provide much of a challenge,
managing to ruin his Grand Prix shoot by loading two pellets on
the 11th shot, one ending up in the 3 ring, the other a 1!!! Nicky
Credland, fresh from her 5th place at the British Championships,
won the Air Pistol.
The introduction
of the Air Pistol at these events seems to have been successful,
and it is hoped that this can be continued next year, and that
more entrants, especially amongst the SPA National Squad, will
attend.
International Matches
Thanks to Robin
Law who has produced a huge wealth of information going back over
25 years. We are still looking for:
ISAS (Dortmund)
- 1996 (Sunday only) & 1997
Intershoot (The
Hague) - All years except 1979, 1984, 1991, 1996, 1998 & 2001
CSF(ED) Championships
- 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980
NSRA Air Rifle
Championships - 1974 & 1975
If you can fill
in any of these gaps, please contact Donald McIntosh.
NSRA Air Rifle Championships (Sunday)
The Scottish team was unable to
defend the Home Countries title at the British Air Rifle Championships,
dropping to third place behind England and Wales:
Scotland |
D W Rattray |
582 |
S J McIntosh |
577 |
D A M McIntosh |
568 |
Total |
1727 |
England |
1741 |
Wales |
1729 |
In the individual aggregate competitions,
David Rattray was best placed, with 4th in Class X. Shirley McIntosh
won Class A, with Bill Long winning Class D.
Forth & Clyde were second
behind Hampshire in the Inter-County team competition.
In the individual championships,
Shirley McIntosh qualified in 7th place for the Senior Women's
championship, climbing to 5th after the final. In the Senior Men's,
David Rattray climbed one place from 4th to 3rd.
NSRA
Air Rifle Championships (Saturday)
The Scottish team to compete in
the Home Countries International at the NSRA Air Rifle Championships
on Sunday 3rd March will be David Rattray, Shirley McIntosh and
Donald McIntosh, with Robin Law as reserve. Unfortunately, with
only one Scottish women entered in the meeting, there will be
no ladies team this year.
Website
changes
The SSRA website has been moved
to a new ISP, and other than a short period this weekend while
the domain name was in transit, the service should be largely
unaffected. Please advise the webmaster
if you encounter any problems. Within the next few days the old
website will be removed, so any links you have to http://website.lineone.net/~scottish.smallbore/...
will no longer function. Please also ensure that you use the secretary@ssra.co.uk e-mail
address to contact the Secretary, as the scottish.smallbore@lineone.net
address will not continue to work for very long either.
LSSA
"World Cup"
Sticking with the World Cup theme,
the final of the Lothian Smallbore Shooting Association's annual
"World Cup" competition was held at Balerno & Currie
on Saturday 23rd February. Bill Vaughan came out on top, defeating
Alasdair Horne on his home range. The plate competition, run between
those eliminated from the group stages, went to Tom Hodgson.
World
Cup Selections
Two Scots have been included in
the GB teams attending the first two ISSF World Cups of 2002 -
Donald McIntosh will shoot in the 3x40 at the first event in Sydney,
Australia, while Bill Brown will compete in the prone at the subsequent
event in Shanghai, China.
International
Matches
We are looking
for information on who represented Scotland at the following events:
ISAS (Dortmund)
- 1994, 1996 & 1997
Intershoot (The
Hague) - All years except 1996 & 2001
CSF(ED) Championships
- 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1985, 1986
NSRA Air Rifle
Championships - 1974, 1975, 1982, 1985 - 1993
If you can fill
in any of these gaps, please contact Donald McIntosh.
Air Rifle Grand Prix IV
Robin Law secured
the Air Rifle Grand Prix series for the 8th year in a row, with
a win at Dumfries.
SSRA Speedway Final & North Island, New Zealand
Match
It is hoped that
the final of the "Speedway" will take place at Perth
on Sunday 24th March, with the annual postal match against North
Island, New Zealand being shot three weeks later, on Sunday 14th
April, also at Perth. These dates are subject to confirmation.
NSRA
Scottish Cup
Bon Accord, E
U Alumni, Watsonians & Wick Old Stagers have qualified for
the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup. The semi's and final will
be held at Denwood on Sunday 17th March, along with the final
of the NSRA Scottish Short Range Championship (aka the Daily Record).
SSRA
50m ISSF Open Championships
The date for the
SSRA ISSF 50m Open Championships has now been set as the 15th
& 16th of June. The event is being brought forward in the
Calendar this year due to the timing of the Commonwealth Games.
Olympic
MQS
The ISSF website
has confirmed that the following SSRA shooters recorded Minimum
Qualifying Scores for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games during the
2001 Commonwealth Championships:
- Martin Sinclair
(3x40)
- David Rattray
(Air Rifle)
- Robin Law (Air
Rifle)
- Jim Cole-Hamilton
(Prone)
- Janis Thomson
(3x20 and Air Rifle)
Website Changes
Within the next
few days, migration of the website to a different ISP will commence,
and it may well be that there will be access problems until this
has completed. Please bear with us, as we will be able to
offer an improved service once this has been completed.
Lottery Awards
Susan Jackson,
David Rattray, Martin Sinclair, Donald McIntosh, Jonathan Hammond,
Barbara Mackay, Jim Cole-Hamilton and Sinclair Bruce have received
awards from the sportscotland Lottery Sports Fund to cover
the period from December 2001 to January 2003.
Intershoot
Robin Law and
David Rattray will be representing Scotland at the annual Intershoot
Air Rifle & Pistol international match in The Hague between
6th & 9th February. Results will probably appear here.
Munich Airgun
Robin Law formed
part of the GB team that took part in the annual Air Rifle &
Pistol international match in Munich between 23rd & 26th January.
Full results can be found here.
Air Rifle Grand
Prix III
There was a good
turnout for the third Air Rifle & Pistol Grand Prix, but not
so many good scores. Robin Law maintained his unbeaten record
in the Rifle, with Mark Joyce winning his second Pistol event.
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