Another busy week, with around 90 targets and many fantastic scores shot at the club yesterday!  Congratulations to the following shooters on new PBs: Logan Brantley 94.2, Stephen Thessman 194.9, Nicoli Yamog 187.6, Jack MacCormick 179.4, Georgia Karantze 179.2 and Logan Brantley 178.2, and also to Ollie Tuohy and Georgia Karantze on gaining their D Grade marksmen’s badges.

It was good to see David Grain back on form, shooting 199.11, the best 20-shot score this week, and also Pratik Tailor with the best 10-shot score of 100.7.  Jess Fair was highest in A Grade with 98.7.  It was very close in B Grade with the top two shooters separated by only two inners (Callum Osborne 98.6 and Craig Fair 98.4).  This was also the case in C Grade with Neil Maddever scoring 97.5 followed by Neakiry Kivi on 97.3.  And in D Grade the best five this week were Ollie Tuohy 98.5, Summer O’Dwyer 98.5, Ben Cox 95.2, Logan Brantley 94.2 and Georgia Karantze 91.0.

On Thursday the NDC finals were shot.  Unfortunately, while Wellington won the junior section, we lost both the open and composite sections against Taranaki, and will stay in Division 2 for next season.  Taranaki, however, managed to beat Eastern Force so will now move up to Division 1 while Eastern Force has been relegated to Division 2.  Michael Grain and Evan Little scored best out of the Brooklyn shooters involved in this match, both recording 297.17.

The highlight this week has to be the Osmond Shield and Wright Cup matches, held on Saturday evening.  It was great to have so many Brooklyn club members keen to be involved in this event, enabling the club to enter two teams in each of the competitions.  Congratulations to our #2 Wright Cup team, comprising Neakiry Kivi, Hamish Guthrey, Georgia Karantze, Greg Mason, Rhys Mountain and Phil Cox, on their 2^nd place in the Wright Cup match, beating our #1 team by a point.  Wellington Central were the clear winners of this match, finishing five points ahead of Brooklyn #2.  The Osmond Shield match was very exciting: three of the five teams started with the same score, then Wellington Central pulled away slightly from the others in the second squad, and extended the gap after the third squad to five points ahead of our #1 team, holding onto this five-point lead to the halfway point.  Then the strength of our top shooters kicked in, closing the gap to a mere point after five squads, taking the lead in the sixth squad, extending this in the seventh and finishing with a 100.9 from Michael Grain on the last squad to win the event by six points.  Congratulations to Michael Grain, Pratik Tailor, Meredith Ackrill, Summer O’Dwyer, David Grain, Callum Osborne, Stephen Thessman and Andrea Tuohy on bringing the shield back to Brooklyn.  Our #2 team chased Wellington Central for second place, finishing three points behind.  Top shots in each of our teams were: Neakiry Kivi 97.4, Stephen Thessman 96.1, Michael Grain 100.9 and Jess Fair 99.8.  This was the first time the two matches had been shot on the same night, and there was a strong consensus that this format should be kept for future years.  With around 50 shooters present, it was loud, crowded, a little chaotic and confusing, but a lot of fun and a great night.

The Wellington secondary schools team competed yesterday against Hutt Valley, Manawatu and Bay of Plenty, shooting extremely well with an average of 95.5 and winning this annual event by a considerable margin.  Summer O’Dwyer scored highest from the Brooklyn shooters, and second highest overall, with 192.6, followed by Callum Osborne on 191.9.

It’s pleasing to hear people discussing their likely grading for next year which means their Excel grading spreadsheet is being completed each week.  It appears that many will be moving up a grade, and some may even move up two grades.  Next Sunday is the deadline for the final Triple S and closed champs rounds.  After that there’ll be a few more weeks available before the end of the grading season, which will provide a good opportunity to attempt marksmen’s badges.

Upcoming events:

• Friday 4 September, Wellington v Hertfordshire, 7.30pm, 1x10 NZ and 1x10 UK.  Team: Michael Grain, David Grain, Meredith Ackrill, Evan Little, Jess Fair, Dianne Grain, Ross Little, Andrea Tuohy.  Emergency: Craig Fair.  On call: Ollie Tuohy.
• Saturday 5 September, Wellington v Hutt Valley Open, doors open at 7pm, 1x10 + 1x20.  Team: Michael Grain, Meredith Ackrill, Pratik Tailor, Jess Fair.  On call: Andrea Tuohy, Craig Fair.
• Saturday 5 September, Wellington v Hutt Valley Women, doors open at 7pm, 1x10 + 1x20.  Team: Meredith Ackrill, Jess Fair.  Emergencies: Andrea Tuohy, Luisa Kristen.  On call: Neakiry Kivi.
• Sunday 6 September, deadline for Round 6, Wellington Closed Champs.
• Sunday 6 September, deadline for Round 4, Triple S secondary schools competition.
• Friday 11 September, 7.30pm, Keene Range, Wellington v Hutt Valley C Grade, 2x10.  Team named on Friday.
• Friday 11 September, 7.30pm, Keene Range, Wellington v Hutt Valley Interclub winners.  Open team (1x20): team named next Monday.