Scottish Smallbore Rifle Association

Scotland completed a clean sweep of victories against England at Lauder today with wins in the main team event, the Ladies event and the Juniors match. In the main event Scotland won by 184 off to England's 193. The Ladies won by 103 to 118, while the Juniors came out on top by 74 to 101.

Susan Jackson has won the Freuchie trophy at the NSRA Scottish Meeting in Lauder. The C+D final was won by Jonty Barron.

Meanwhile, the Scotland team to take on England at 10am on Friday morning has been unveiled

Main team: AS Bruce, J Paterson, WA Copland, Miss K Copland, WT Vaughan, TF Hodgson, CG De Jonckheere, JG Shedden, RR Simpson, R Law. Reserve: Ms SM Sharp.

Ladies team: Miss K Copland, Ms SM Sharp, Mrs SM Jackson, Mrs MT Melvin, Mrs K King. Reserve: Mrs F Shedden.

WHEN things are not going well on the range, it always helps to have someone to talk through the problems with. When American Matt Emmons, one of the world's top competitors, finished eighth in the 2004 Athens Olympics Three-Position final after firing at the wrong target, he was was consoled by Czech shooter Katerina Kurkova. Just a few months later Ms Kurkova became Mrs Emmons so clearly that was one kind of couples therapy that worked out in the end - but how do our own home-grown shooting couples get on in Scotland? To find out more and what Matt Emmons has to say on the subject, plus who said: "I’m the kit geek, I do my own thing", click here.

Scots to the fore: From left, Jon Hammond, Neil Stirton, Matt Thomson, Ollie Barron, Kay Copland and Jen McIntosh

Six Scots athletes have been named in the team to represent Great Britain at the 50th ISSF World Championships, which will be held in Munich from 29 July to 9 August. For full details of the team and their events, click here.

Kay Copland notched a new personal best of 595 ex 600 and a silver medal at the Meeting of the Shooting Hopes in Pilsen, Czech Republic.

The Scottish A squad athlete from Aberdeen delivered a superb performance in the 50m Prone event. The full results are available here. Copland followed that up with a new PB of 573 ex 600 in the 3x20 Three Position event. There was also a new personal best for Fraser Cheetham in the Junior Men's Three-Position event with 1141, a new Scottish Junior record, beating Jon Hammond's 1140 in 2000 by one.

Sheena Sharp pulled out all the stops to win the third Grand Prix of the SSRA series at Caithness.

The defending double Commonwealth champion emerged with a score in the final of 698.8 to triumph by a tidy margin from Caithness club's John R Sinclair on 693.5 and James Alexander Henderson in third on 688.5, just ahead of Sarah Bates on 687.2.
The performance by Sharp who improved steadily throughout the day, provided a fine end to the two-day event.

"The shoot was a great success, there were competitors from Orkney to the Borders," said County secretary Marty Simpson. "Prior to the shoot, Sheena Sharp and Bill Copland(snr) both requested that I organised a warm sunny, no wind, no midgies , no fog day. As secretary I always aim to please, and I am delighted to say that's exactly what Saturday was, very warm, sunny,no wind, midgies, or fog.Perfect conditions.Unfortunately, Sunday lashed with rain, and when it didn't rain it was dull and dreich..."

SSRA member Jim McIntosh, the man to be found tucked behind the stats laptop along with Marty Simpson, commented: "We had a good turn out from the Dumfries Club, which being the most southerly coming up to Wick, was a great boost to the local organisers for their hard work. Competitions do not just happen, someone has to burn the midnight oil to get everything in place for the event."

It was good to see a number of new faces there from the local clubs showing a level of interest and ability that should bode well for the future in the Caithness area.

James Henderson took the time out from picking up a raft of prizes to compile a diary from the Caithness meeting - click here to read the inside track on the MSP who asked to have a go and the competitor who should have won a prize for his noble gesture...

There were 15 competitions staged over the two days and here are the results in brief:

Caithness aggregate: Class A James Henderson (Watten RC); Class B: Gregor Bremner (Watten RC); Class C: Robbie Spence(jnr) (Orkney RC); Class D Lloyd Prentice (Heriot Watt) .
Spittal Handicap: 1st James Henderson, 2nd Gregor Bremner.
Mowat Cup: 1st Fiona Shedden (Dumfries), 2nd James Henderson.
Daisy Trust 2000: Andrew Nicolson (Wick Old Stagers)
Caithness County Champion 2009/2010: James Henderson.

Detailed results from the Grand Prix can be found here. A full results package of all the competitions at Caithness can be found here.

The outdoor season is hotting up and Dave Caughey took the honours at Gagie after a marathon Angus Grand Prix. His ISSF final shoot string of 103.3 gave him a total of 696.3 and victory ahead of Tom Hodgson (693.2) and Robin Thomson (692.4) - and on his former club range, Steeple, too.
"I was happy with my first A&B GP win, especially on the three-card system," said Caughey. "Since the GP series is going well, I'm going to need to take a trip up north next week (Caithness) to make sure I don't lose my advantage and to try to take some points off the wind shooting specialists..."

Saturday saw the second 3P Grand Prix of the season, at Denwood. "We had 11 hardy souls and whilst the wind was not too heavy it was straight out of the Arctic and did have its effect," said the SSRA's Jim McIntosh.
The scores did prove to be tight in the end with Graham Rudd running out the winner from Andrew Ross in the 3x40 and Emma Cole-Hamilton taking the 3x20 from Sheena Sharp.

Detailed scores can be found on the Domestic Results page.

Jen McIntosh's progress continued apace as she set a new record at the ISSF World Cup in Fort Benning in Georgia USA.

McIntosh broke the Scottish Senior and GB Junior Women's 3x20 record in the Three-Position small bore event with a score of 581. She qualified for a shoot-off eliminator to get into the final stage, between five competitors for just three places, but fell just short.

"I'm pretty happy with my shoot, although obviously a little disappointed to miss out on the final," McIntosh commented. "I wasn't expecting to come anywhere close to the final though, so I was really pleased to make the shoot-off. It was great experience too - which is really what this was about for me - and I've certainly learned from it. As for the match itself, it could have been better. Obviously I'm delighted to have a new PB - and to have finally beaten that record - but the fact that is that it could have easily been better. I lost my head a little bit during my standing and it cost me... a couple of 8s and a string of 9s that could have been 10s if I'd managed to keep concentrating. But I guess that's what every athlete would tell you - it can always be better and there is always room for improvement.

"For my first World Cup to come 10th... brilliant, not really another word for it," she went on. "It's been a great experience and great fun, but looking forward my next competition (the British Championships at Bisley on 11-13 June) - and the next World Cup in Belgrade. And more than anything, looking forward to coming home!"

Meanwhile, Aberdeen's Neil Stirton shot a new personal best of 1158 in the equivalent Men's 3x40 event. He commented on McIntosh's performance: "Unfortunately she didn't get through but no mean feat nonetheless - well done!" Stirton has been working hard with some new kit and admitted the high temperatures in Georgia made things more difficult.
"After finding a crack in my 'original' Bleiker action a few weeks ago, after Pilzen, I changed barrel and action and am now shooting with a different Bleiker. Training has been going well in Prone and 3P and I was pleased with the new PB in the 3P match. There are still several areas that I know need work and looking forward to focussing on them before he next World Cup in Belgrade. Let's hope it doesn't get too much hotter as this weather with all the gear on is certainly a challenge."

Detailed results can be found at http://results.sius.com

Once more unto the breach for Bruce

30th May 2010

He is best known to the country's target shooting community as Scotland's Under-25 SSRA coach, a representative for his nation at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and an ardent member of the Balerno & Currie club, but Sinclair Bruce has put on a new hat and once more put his own competitions on the backbu

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Bruce has taken up the caretaker role as Performance manager for the SSRA after Donald McIntosh relinquished the post.

"The post will be voted on at the SSRA AGM at the Scottish, I am currently standing in," he was at pains to point out. "I will put my name forward at the Scottish, as will others who are interested and there will be a vote taken. Fundamentally [the role] is about reporting on performance of those in the squads and liaison with coaches on the selections for international matches that occur through the year as well as the training programme."

What about that important coaching role that he continues to carry out, meaning regular trips to the likes of Denwood or Tullygarth? Many people might ask if the two posts overlap.

"They only overlap because I'm doing both," Bruce said. "There is no requirement for them to do so." And his coaching skills extend beyond the locus of Scottish shooters. Northern Ireland internationalist Beverley Burnside for example has sought his help in honing her talents. "We want to develop a strong shooting community throughout GB as ultimately that is the highest level of representation people can achieve through the systems we have in place. I'm happy (from a coaching point of view) to help anyone who is committed to improving," he explained.

How on earth do you fit all that in with your day job, family life and even your own shooting?
"Prioritise and compromise. My own shooting has definitely taken a back seat over the last wee while."

Quite apart from your official remit, what are your aspirations about the role and what can be achieved. Is it largely connected to 2012/2014 or the wider aspect of broadening the appeal and quality of people in the sport in Scotland?
"I want to see as many of our Scottish shooters competing for places in GB teams in the lead up to 2012 which naturally leads on to the development of talent for 2014. This two-pronged view of development is important. We must not just think in the context of Scotland. We want our sports man & women involved at GB level, competing against the rest of the world. People used to think that it was possible to compete at Commonwealth level without needing to be world class. That is no longer the case. We need to aim to have our shooters competing at the world level and that means getting into GB teams and travelling to World Cups, World Champs, European Champs and the like."

A reminder that Alloa & District stage their new "Triple Dewar" competition on Sunday 20th June at The Rifle Range, Tullygarth Farm, Clackmannan. Course of fire is 60 shots at 50 metres and 60 shots at 100 yards + aggregate. Anyone interested in taking part should contact club secretary William McAulay either by e-mail on mcaulay8580@talktalk.net or by telephone 01259 723598 at 51 Hillcrest Drive, Alloa, FK10 1SD.

Matt Thomson marked his return to serious international competition with the events in Hannover and Pilzen. A 595 in Germany followed by 594 in the Czech Republic were the rewards for two very solid matches.

The following team will represent Scotland at the third International Shooting Competition in Hannover from 27 April to 2 May 2010:

After some nip and tuck results, there were class wins for JR Sinclair, Ian Henderson and Neil McMillan in the final stages of the SSRA Medal while Stewart Dewar won the CanDicap. Congratulations to all who took part and detailed results on all the competitions are now available here.

There were gold medal performances from Sheena Sharp, James Brown, Emma Cole-Hamilton and Sarah Brown as the Scots contingent descended on the Sinclair Range at St John's in the Isle of Man and brought back a number of awards. Sharp won the Women's Open Championship, edging out Michelle Smith by one point.

Bon Accord retained their Division 1 title, with an improved performance. Although they dropped a point this time, their average went up almost a point to 394.4 (not the best seen in this league - that was by Watsonians with 396.1 in 2007). Bon were rarely threatened and finished five points ahead of second-placed Callander A, who despite putting in one 399, lost twice to Bon Accord and also to Bearsden A. The award for best overall average goes to Donald McIntosh with 99.0.
Division 2 was won by Watsonians, seeing off Selkirk by only two points. They won one and lost one each in their matches together, but Selkirk crucially lost one other match. Watsonians had their noses just in front all the way, and Selkirk's loss in R9 confirmed their runners-up spot. The best average in the division was by Nick Baker (Watsonians) with 98.5.
Division 3 ended up about as close as you can get between Inverurie & Oldmeldrum and Forres. They both finished with 16 points, but Inverurie & Oldmeldrum emerged winners by only 8 gunscore points. Forres will be rueing their low-scoring loss by one point to Bearsden B in round 3, a match they would have won with any of their other scores. Top average in the division was M Catto of Inverurie & Oldmeldrum with 98.1.
Division 4 was won by Clachnacuddin B. Having lost rounds 2 and 3, they won all the rest of their matches and overtook early leaders Alloa & Dist B who had a poor spell in the middle. Top average (of those shooting all 10 rounds) was Peter Gray of Steeple with 96.3.
It was a case of same again in division 5, as this was won by Clachnacuddin C with a clean sweep of 20 points. Orkney B did their best to keep up, and their only losses were to the winners. Clach even had the good fortune to win a match when they were a man short, meeting a similarly disadvantaged team in the shape of Edinburgh University B. To those that hath.... Top average was S Bell (Clach) with 96.3.

The prize medals for each winning team will be presented at the AGM in June. Detailed scores and averages can be found via the Domestic Results page

Watsonians Rifle Club have reached the final of the NSRA's Team of Eight competition for the Mackworth Praed trophy with a superb performance in the semi-final against Weston. The Edinburgh club's score of 793ex 800, provisionally a British record, saw off opponents Weston who scored 763ex800. Watsonians will now play Chobham and District in the final postal match, have already shot their cards and can now only wait on their opponents' result.....

Lockerbie Academy's Kathryn Williamson has fought her way into the Scotland set-up at the age of 16 - with the aid of borrowed boots and trousers. And now she has been rewarded with the Junior Sports Personality prize for 2009 from Annandale and Eskdale Sports Trust.

That success has not come without sacrifice, though. To read more about the trials and tribulations of joining the Scotland squad, click here.