Scottish Smallbore Rifle Association 

News · Contact us · Who we are · Calendar · Journal · Links
Hall of Fame · Squads & Athletes · Grand Prix Classifications · Scottish Records
Domestic Competitions · Domestic Results · International Competitions · International Results
Development & Performance · Coaching Courses · Discussion Forum

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:

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:

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.

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:

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.