Rugeley shooter Richard Hemingway won his squad, and finished second in X-Class this weekend at the Torfaen Open Championship.
Contested at Long Ashton District Rifle Club near Bristol, the match is a 60-shot course of fire on Megalink electronic targets. Shooting on the second squad of the day, Richard’s score of 616.2 bested top shooters including Simon Green. Overall, he was left behind Alan Bain, who had managed an excellent 621.0 on the first detail.
Rugeley shooters claimed a pair of medals at the NSRA British Open Airgun Championships this weekend. For the Open Championship, athletes shoot an Olympic course – a 60-shot qualification match, with the top-8 progressing to a final. Competitors also shoot a seocnd qualification course which is aggregated with their first score for the Class Aggregate,
Shooting in the Women’s Air Rifle, Megan Bamsey placed fourth in qualification, improving in the final to take the bronze medal – her first senior medal. In her second match for the Aggregate, Megan set a new PB of 616.4.
In the Men’s Air Pistol, Paul Watkiss narrowly missed a spot in the final, finishing 9th. He collected a consolation prize with an excellent second shoot to take silver in the A-Class aggregate.
In the Junior Women’s Air Rifle, Olivia Beech qualified for her final in third place, and also improved to win the silver medal. Izzy Ward finished 13th in the same event.
Pippa Watterson finished 10th in the Junior Women’s Air Pistol, and Abbigael Beech placed 20th in the Sporter Air Rifle.
Rugeley member Abbigael Beech took Gold at the British Shooting Schools Rifle & Pistol Championships this week, winning the Junior 6yd Air Rifle event. The 6yd event is shot with “Sporter” air rifles which are lighter than full precision air rifles, and does not allow special shooting jackets or trousers.
The Championships took place over the 6th and 7th of February at Cannock Leisure Centre, and were supported by volunteers from Rugeley Rifle Club.
Paul Watkiss had a stand-up weekend, finishing fourth in the open Air Pistol event at the third installment of British Shooting’s Air Series at Aldersley, near Wolverhampton.
Shooting on Saturday, Paul managed 561, topping Relay 2. On Sunday morning he improved on that with a 562 in Relay 4. Both these scores were good enough to qualify Paul for the 8-athlete final. Starting with a wobble he placed 6th after the first string. Regrouping however, he climbed to fifth after the second string and fourth after his 12th shot. Further steady shooting saw him climb in to bronze medal position, but a robust response from Charlotte Hicks over her last four shots saw her climb past Paul and Ayush Chauhan into silver medal position, pushing Ayush in Bronze and Paul just out the medals.
In the Air Rifle, Bill Clark, Izzy Ward and Nathan Clark all put in strong performances. Bill managed third and 5th in his two relays, Izzy placed 5th and 3rd, whilst Nathan placed 6th in his relay. Their best results put Bill 13th overall, Izzy 15th and Nathan 19th. Congratulations to all.
Congratulations to Rugeley Rifle Club member Paul Watkiss who won the Air Pistol event at the Bedfordshire Open Airgun Meeting!
Shooting in the 10m Air Pistol event, Paul scored 554/600 to win the Open. On his second detail he improved with 556, which together earned him the A-class aggregate.
Paul Watkiss and Izzy Ward were in action representing Rugeley at the second round of the British Shooting Air Series this weekend.
Shooting two relays – one on Saturday and another on Sunday – the better score is used to qualify athletes for an Olympic Final on Sunday.
Shooting Air Pistol, Paul placed third on his Saturday relay, with 560, and managed a consistent 559 on Sunday, finishing second in that relay.
In the final he was eliminated in sixth place, missing fifth by just a point.
On the Air Rifle squads, Izzy placed 5th on Saturday with a massive new Personal Best of 591.3. She placed 9th on her Sunday relay with 580.6.
Full results at British Shooting
Shooters from Rugeley Rifle Club collected medals in Cardiff this weekend at the Welsh Airgun Championships. Held at the Sport Wales centre in Sophia Gardens, the meeting rolls in three days of shooting with three matches. Competitors participate in the Cardiff Grand Prix; an AirOShoot qualification match (in which top scorers can qualify for the Super Final in Belgium) and finish with the Welsh Open Championship.
Shooting Air Pistol, Pavelas Voitiukevicius placed 2nd in the Cardiff GP on Friday, before placing 3rd in the AirOShoot qualification match on Saturday – climbing in the final to win silver. On Sunday, he qualified for the final in the Welsh Open Championship match, narrowly missing a medal to place 4th.
Paul Watkiss placed eighth in the Cardiff GP and qualified for the Bronze medal match in the Mixed Pairs, where he finished 4th with randomly-allocated partner Ina Gulowsen Knudsen. Paul finished 12th in the AiroShoot match and 17th in the Welsh Championship.
Kiril Voitiukevicius placed 5th in the Cardiff GP, and qualified for the final of the AirOShoot match, finishing 7th. He placed 23rd in the Championship.
On Air Rifle, Zoe Perkin placed 12th in the Cardiff GP and 10th in the AirOShoot match, finishing 25th in the Championship.
Megan Bamsey claimed silver in her AirOShoot and Cardiff GP matches, whilst Mike Bamsey placed fourth in the Cardiff GP and won silver in the Welsh Championship.
Rugeley member Paul Watkiss placed fifth in the A-Class 10metre Air Pistol final of the NSRA-Eley Postal competition this weekend. Having shot two postal stages at the club, Paul qualified with the top 15 shooters nationally for the final at Bisley.
Well shot Paul!
Zoltan Papp won Rugeley’s 2023 Through the Ranges competition on Sunday.
Shot Prone over 25yards, 50metres and 100yards, the competition tests shooter’s abilities indoor and out.
Rugeley member Rich Hemingway had a sterling weekend at Bisley, shooting for Wales and qualifying for the Final of the British Prone Championship (the “Earl Roberts Championship”) at the close of the NSRA’s 2023 National Meeting.
On Friday, Rich warmed up by comfortably making it through the First Stage of the Earl Roberts, placing 9th of the 50 who qualified. That afternoon he went on to shoot in the Home Countries International, competing for Wales against England and Scotland. Wales narrowly placed third, close behind Scotland. Rich had the second highest score in the Welsh team, just a point behind Sian Corish – who was awarded the “Tartan Dragon” trophy for highest Welsh scorer.
Rich Hemingway with the 2023 Welsh Home Countries Team
photo credit: Eleanor Shorey theshorey.co.uk
On Saturday morning, competitors took to the range for another early start to contest the Second Stage of the Roberts, from which 40 qualified to the final. Placing 27th, Richard entered his first Roberts Final, making him the first Rugeley or Staffordshire shooter to compete in the final for some years.
Shooting a Double Dewar course – 40 shots each at 50metres and 100yards – the wind picked up significantly, as is appropriate for championship finals! In gusty conditions, many competitors struggled to keep their scores above 190, with a smattering of big flyers (including 4s and 6s!) seen along the range, especially on the 100yard portion. Keeping their cool amongst all of them though was 2022 champion Lina Jones, who retained her title with a score of 772. Rich finished his debut Final with 756, placing him 20th.
