Tag: Bisley

British Championship medals for Rugeley shooters

by RichHin Competitions

Rugeley shooters have had a very successful weekend at the British Open Airgun Championships at Bisley.

Kicking off on Thursday, Abbi Beech took bronze in the Sporter Rifle championship.

On Friday, Pippa Waterson qualified fourth in the Junior Women’s Air Pistol, improving to bronze medal position in the final, whilst Oliver Hill qualified as the youngest finallist in the Junior Men’s Air Rifle, improving from seventh to fifth place.

Olivia Beech took bronze in the Women’s Air Rifle and silver in the University Championship. Megan Bamsey also qualified for the Women’s Final, finishing fifth.

In the Seniors, Paul Watkiss qualified for the Men’s Air Pistol final in 6th position, unluckily finishing just out of the medals in fourth place after a strong final.

Paul Barker won the SH1 Air Rifle, and placed third in the SH1 Prone Rifle.

Three young women stand smiling on a shooting range. They are holding match air rifles and wear the specialised jackets and trousers used in ISSF style target shooting.
Olivia Beech wins Bronze in Women’s Air Rifle
An empty shooting range stands ready. In the foreground, a row of boxes stretch off into the distance, each bearing a computer monitor that shows the outcome of shots. The row of targets is visible in the background.
The range awaits
Three young people stand smiling on a podium clutching medals. The one in the middle is holding a trophy.
Abbi takes Bronze in Jr Women’s Air Pistol
Two men stand in front of a podium, the one on the left is presenting a trophy to the man on the right who wears a top bearing the British Shooting logo.
Paul Barker wins SH1 WSPS Air Rifle
Three young women stand smiling on a podium clutching medals
Pippa Waterson takes Bronze in Jr Women’s Air Pistol

All photos courtesy Eleanor Shorey, nsratheshorey.com

Club representation at Bisley

by RichHin Competitions

Rugeley members represented at the NSRA’s National Smallbore Meeting this year, winning County and Home Country selections.

Six members shot the Weekend Aggregate, spanning Classes X to D.

  • Richard Hemingway – X, 20th
  • Alex Buttery – C, 21st
  • Ian Abbotts – C, 33rd
  • Liz Garner – C, 35th
  • Brian Parker – C, 43rd
  • Deb Truman – D, 20th

Martyn Buttery finished 42nd in the X-Class Grand Aggregate and represented Hampshire. Martyn won Silver with the County Sextette, and Bronze in the County 50Metre match.

Richard Hemingway was selected for Wales, placing third in the Home Countries International.

Richard and Liz both qualified for the Eley Postal Final, with Richard placing 17th in A, and Liz taking 3rd in E.

Paul Watkiss placed 9th in A-Class in the Benchrest Weekend Aggregate. John Passey placed 11th.

England selection and Silver medal for Olivia at British 50Metre Championships

by RichHin Competitions

Olivia Beech was selected to represent England in the Home Countries match on Saturday at the British 50Metre Rifle Championships. Shooting on the difficult Malcolm Cooper Range at the NSRA Lord Roberts Centre in Surrey, Olivia scored 555/600, placing her fourth overall and between team mates Wes Cann on 565 and Lloyd Collins-Page on 532. In a tight-fought match England placed second with 1652/1800, just three points behind Wales on 1655.

Having comfortably qualified for the final, she held her nerve to win Silver, making her top female competitor.

Olivia’s performance comes after her GB selection to the Junior team attending the Nordic Championships in August. Hosted in Denmark this year, Olivia will be competing in the Junior Women’s Three-Position Rifle and the Mixed Team event alongside Louis Norman.

Olivia Beech takes Silver at British 50Metre Championship Three-Position event

Top 5 finish for Paul at NSRA-Eley Final

by RichHin Competitions

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!

National Selection and Championship Finals for Hemingway

by RichHin Club News, Competitions

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.

Staffordshire prizes in Eley Final

by RichHin Competitions

Three Staffordshire shooters claimed prizes this Sunday at the Prone Rifle Finals in the NSRA-Eley Competition. Rich Hemingway of Rugeley placed fourth in A-Class. Duncan Chilcott of Market Drayton placed 8th in D-Class whilst Alan Boyles placed 7th in E-Class.

Best of luck to Paul Watkiss, who has qualified for the Air Pistol finals in A-Class, to be held in October at Bisley.

Rugeley members make mark at Bisley 100

by RichHin Club News, Competitions

Rugeley members made their mark at the Centenary edition of the NSRA’s Bisley Rifle Meeting, which returned after a two year hiatus. A strong contingent, the club sent 10 shooters down, competing over the weekend and full week.

Rich Hemingway places third in
the Weekend Aggregate
photo: Martyn Buttery

Richard Hemingway finally broke his run of middling Bisley performances to earn promotion to X-Class, joining Martyn Buttery and Ryan Williams in the top tier. Finishing third in the Weekend Aggregate and equal-fourth in the Grand Aggregate, either result was sufficient for promotion. Rich also won the incidental Prince William of Wales match and placed third in the Centenary Competition.

Vic Tyne placed third in Class for Competition 10 – the 100Yard portion of the Weekend Aggregate.

The meeting was opened by Michael More-Molyneux (Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey), on behalf of the Queen, who is patron of the NSRA. Lord Lieutenants represent the monarch in their county. The week included a number of 1922-inspired competitions, including deliberate and rapid-fire matches using targets from the period.

Michael More-Molyneux at the Bisley 100 Opening Shot Ceremony

Michael More-Molyneux DL, Lord Lieutenant of Surrey at the Bisley 100 Opening Shot Ceremony with NSRA President Geoff Doe (left) and Chief Range Officer Jon Leech (centre).

credit: Hemmers, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons