On the last day of the 2017 season it was great to see PBs still being shot: Craig Fair 198.11, Erin Little 198.8, Iain Mackay 98.3 (not sure if PB, but best in a number of years), and Arnold Chia 93.2.

Congratulations to the following members on gaining a place in the Champion of Champions Match, being held on Tuesday 10 October:

• Club Champion: Evan Little
• Master Grade Champion: Pratik Tailor
• A Grade Champion: Evan Little
• B Grade Champion: Craig Fair
• C Grade Champion: Oscar Robinson
• D Grade Champion: Anna

Best on the rest this week was Emerson Tabor with 71.1.  Arnold Chia top-scored in D Grade with 93.2, and Iain Mackay’s 98.3 was highest in C Grade.  In the 20-shot competition Craig Fair shot best with 198.11 closely followed by Erin Little with 198.8.

Dinner tickets for Friday’s WSRA prizegiving dinner will be available at the dinner on Friday for those who weren’t able to collect them from the club this week.  The doors open at 6pm with dinner at 6.30pm.

Thanks to everyone who has forwarded me their grading return.  Once the final few outstanding returns are received, the club return can be compiled and forwarded to TSNZ.

Next Sunday the club will hold its annual barbecue prizegiving at Craig Fair’s house from 4pm onwards.  Further information regarding what to bring will be emailed out in the next few days.  If you currently have a club trophy, please ensure it is engraved and POLISHED, ready to be passed on to the next recipient.

Upcoming events:

• Tuesday 10 October, Champion of Champions match, 8.00pm C/D Grades 1x10, 8.20pm Master/A/B Grades 1x20.  Club champion: Evan Little; Master Grade: Pratik Tailor; A Grade: Evan Little; B Grade: Craig Fair; C Grade: Oscar Robinson; D Grade: Anna.
• Friday 13 October, The Pines, Houghton Bay, 6.30pm, WSRA centenary prizegiving.  Doors open at 6pm.
• Sunday 15 October, BSRC prizegiving/BBQ, 4pm onwards.  Further information to follow.

Congratulations to our Wellington College team who finished 2^nd (for the second consecutive year) at the interisland secondary schools match in Palmerston North in the weekend.  The team scored a very impressive 866.25 to finish 9 points behind Ashburton College and 1 point ahead of Feilding High School.  All three team members (Oscar Robinson, Amalamo Simi and Wiko du Toit) were then selected for the North Island secondary schools team to compete against the South Island, a match won by the South Island this year by 6 points.  Oscar Robinson’s score of 485.18 gave him a place in the New Zealand secondary schools team which shot against Great Britain on Sunday morning in which Oscar scored 198 on UK targets (Great Britain will shoot their targets early in the new year).   Oscar particularly had a great weekend, being awarded the “Top Boy” trophy – I believe this is the first time this trophy has been won by a Wellington College shooter – well done!!  Interestingly the top six individual places went to girls this year.  As usual at this match, the standard of shooting was extremely high, with an average 95 being the cut-off to make the North Island team, rising to 96.2 to get a place in the New Zealand team.

Dinner tickets for the WSRA prizegiving dinner at the Pines on 13 October need to be paid for by Tuesday 3 October.  Please make payment direct to the club’s bank account.  If you wish to attend and have not as yet put your name down, please email me urgently.  All representative badges, date bars, interclub trophies, closed champs medals and trophies, as well as the Osmond Shield and Wright Cup will be presented at this event – it would be great if those receiving awards are in attendance.

The Wellington v Hertfordshire match was shot on Thursday, with the Wellington team scoring very much the same as last year.  Top Brooklyn shooter (and second overall) was Evan Little.  Full results will be available early in the new year once Hertfordshire have shot their targets.

Thanks to everyone who has forwarded me their grading return.  If you have not done so, please do so urgently so that the returns can be collated and forwarded to TSNZ by their 10 October deadline.  It is each shooter’s individual responsibility to complete their grading return.

In club shooting, the top five D Graders were Chris Lockery 93.3, Emily Lockery 93.1, Melchior Meares 92.2, Anna 92.2 and Matthew Canlas 91.0.  Oscar Robinson had the best C Grade score of 99.6, a point ahead of Erin Little on 98.7.  In B Grade Mark Riley shot best with 98.3 followed by Callum Osborne with 97.3, and in the higher grades Evan Little top-scored with 99.7 while only an inner separated David Grain and Pratik Tailor (98.6 and 98.5 respectively).  Evan was also top-shot in the 20-shot competition with 198.12 ahead of David Grain with 198.8.

Next Sunday is the final week of club shooting.  The champion of champion match which involves each clubs’ graded champions will shoot on Tuesday 10 October.  Our graded champions will be named by next Monday.  Trophies will be awarded to each overall graded champion.

Upcoming events:

• Tuesday 10 October, Champion of Champions match, 8.00pm C/D Grades 1x10, 8.30pm Master/A/B Grades 1x20.  Champions to be named Monday 9 October.
• Friday 13 October, The Pines, Houghton Bay, 6.30pm, WSRA centenary prizegiving.  Tickets $40 each.
• Sunday 15 October, BSRC prizegiving/BBQ.

Congratulations to Evan Little on winning A Grade at the North Island Open Champs at Palmerston North on Saturday with an impressive 395.24, an inner ahead of the 2^nd placegetter.  Wiko du Toit also shot in the North Island Champs, in both the prone and air rifle competitions, scoring well in both and finishing 4^th in the air rifle event.

For the second consecutive week, Chris Lockery and Emily Lockery have recorded new PBs of 95.2 and 96.2 respectively (an improvement on Emily’s previous PB by 7 points!!).  It is pleasing to see such a fantastic result for Emily.  Emily has put in a huge amount of effort this year, attending regularly, persevering each week with getting  her position sorted, and reasonably recently starting to self-manage this to shoot full cards.  Well done, Emily!

Best on the rest this week was Duncan Tabor with 79.2, his best score to date.  The top five D Graders were Anna 97.3, Emily Lockery 96.2, Chris Lockery 95.2, Melchior Meares 94.3 and Casey Israelson 90.2.  In C Grade Oscar Robinson had a great night, shooting a phenomenal 397.25 which included 100.6 and 100.5, while only an inner separated Erin Little and Inge Little (96.3 and 96.2 respectively).  It was also very close in B Grade – Wiko du Toit scored 97.6 ahead of Craig Fair on 97.2.  Evan Little’s 99.8 was best in A Grade, while top shot in Master Grade was Pratik Tailor with 100.8.  In the 20-shot competition Meredith Ackrill recorded the best score this week – 197.12.

In the Wellington v Hutt Valley C Grade representative match held on Friday 15 September, Hutt Valley proved too strong, finishing almost 30 points ahead of Wellington.  Top Wellington shooter was Erin Little with 194.10 followed by Oscar Robinson and Inge Little, both with 193.7.

The Wellington Closed Champs final was held on Tuesday evening.  Unfortunately Evan Little’s one-point lead going into the final wasn’t quite enough to secure top spot overall, scoring 195.11 to finish a point behind Neil Kinsey from Wellington Central.  Oscar Robinson shot a very commendable 196.9 which kept him in 3^rd position.

If you are not involved in any other competitive shooting this week, please now forward me your completed grading return.  All competition scores need to be recorded (whole numbers only, not inners) for cards shot between 1 April and 30 September.  It is each shooter’s individual responsibility to complete their grading return, which will be collated and forwarded to the national body, Target Shooting New Zealand.

Time to start thinking about the end-of-year WSRA prizegiving.  As this year marks the association’s centenary, a special dinner is being organised at the Pines, Houghton Bay, on Friday 13 October ($40 each).  A form will be available at the club each Sunday prior to this date for ticket purchases – please complete your name and how many tickets you require.  Payment can be made direct to the club’s bank account.  Trophies and representative badges will be awarded throughout the evening.  Family members, ex-members, future members are all invited.  So come along and help celebrate the association’s achievement, as well as our club and individual members’ achievements.

Good luck to our Wellington College team, competing in the interisland secondary schools match in Palmerston North this weekend.

Upcoming events:

• Thursday 28 September, 7.30pm, Wellington v Hertfordshire match, 1x10NZ, 1x10UK.  Team Craig Fair, Evan Little, Erin Little, Mark Riley.
• Friday 29 September to Sunday 1 October, Interisland secondary schools match, Palmerston North.  Wellington College: Oscar Robinson, Wiko du Toit, Amalamo Simi.
• Tuesday 10 October, Champion of Champions match, 8.00pm C/D Grades 1x10, 8.30pm Master/A/B Grades 1x20.  Champions to be named Monday 9 October.
• Friday 13 October, The Pines, Houghton Bay, 6.30pm, WSRA centenary prizegiving.  Tickets $40 each.
• Sunday 15 October, BSRC prizegiving/BBQ.

Congratulations to Chris Lockery and Emily Lockery on new PBs shot yesterday: 95.1 and 89.1 respectively.

Best on the rest this week was Adam with a very impressive 88.2.  The top five D Graders were Anna 96.2, Chris Lockery 95.1, Casey Israelson 94.4, Melchior Meares 94.3 and Emily Lockery 89.1.  Oscar Robinson top-scored in C Grade this week with 99.5 followed by Erin Little on 98.7.  Mark Riley achieved the best B Grade score of 97.6 ahead of Craig Fair on 96.5.  Only inners separated Evan Little and David Grain in A Grade (97.4 and 97.2 respectively) and Pratik Tailor kept up his excellent shooting in Master Grade, scoring 100.7 twice.  It was very close in the 20-shot competition with Pratik Tailor leading by an inner ahead of Evan Little (197.13 and 197.12 respectively).

In the Wellington versus Hutt Valley interclub winners match on Friday night, our four-person Brooklyn C Grade team (Erin Little, Oscar Robinson, Inge Little and Amalamo Simi) shot exceptionally well against Pauatahanui, winning by 17 points.  The match comprised 2x10-shot cards – the team shot consistently with all scores between 95 and 97.  Top shot was Erin Little with 194.10.  Results from the other two interclub matches are not known at this stage but I understand Hutt Valley were successful in both.

Results from the Wellington versus Hutt Valley C Grade representative match held on Friday night are not yet available.

Grading returns – please ensure these are up to date.  All competition scores need to be recorded (whole numbers only, not inners) for cards shot between 1 April and 30 September.  It is each shooter’s individual responsibility to complete their grading return, which will be collected in the first week of October for collation and forwarding to the national body, Target Shooting New Zealand.

Time to start thinking about the end-of-year WSRA prizegiving.  As this year marks the association’s centenary, a special dinner is being organised at the Pines, Houghton Bay, on Friday 13 October ($40 each).  A form will be available at the club each Sunday prior to this date for ticket purchases – please complete your name and how many tickets you require.  Payment can be made direct to the club’s bank account.   Trophies and representative badges will be awarded throughout the evening.  Family members, ex-members, future members are all invited.  So come along and help celebrate the association’s achievement, as well as our club and individual members’ achievements.

Upcoming events:

• Tuesday 19 September, 8.15pm, Final 10 of Wellington Closed Champs, 1x20, including: Evan Little, Oscar Robinson, Callum Osborne, Meredith Ackrill, Craig Fair.
• Saturday 23 September, North Island Open Champs, Palmerston North.
• Sunday 24 September, North Island v Scotland Open and Juniors Match, Palmerston North.
• Thursday 28 September, 7.30pm, Wellington v Hertfordshire match, 1x10NZ, 1x10UK.  Team TBC.
• Friday 29 September to Sunday 1 October, Interisland secondary schools match, Palmerston North.  Wellington College: Oscar Robinson, Wiko du Toit, Amalamo Simi.

Two “fun shoots” were held yesterday, the first being an outdoor finals format won by Ethan Haigh, and the second being the very popular 90-second match, won by Yiannis Fam.

Best on the rest this week was Jo Lockery with 87.2.  The top five D Graders were Anna 98.5, Amy Nathanson 96.4, Qiyun Goh 94.2, Ethan Haigh 93.2 (new PB) and Casey Israelson 93.1.  Only inners separated our top two C Graders this week (Oscar Robinson 99.7 and Erin Little 99.4).  Wiko du Toit led B Grade with 99.3 followed by Callum Osborne on 97.4.  Dianne Grain had the best A Grade score of 99.5, and Pratik Tailor led Master Grade with 99.9.  Pratik also had the best 20-shot score of 197.13, ahead of Meredith Ackrill with 196.12.

Congratulations to Oscar Robinson on being the overall winner of the 2017 Triple S Champs as well as winning the C Grade section.  Oscar scored a very commendable 196.12 in the final round to finish five points ahead of his nearest rival.  Also congratulations to our Wellington College team (Oscar Robinson, Wiko du Toit, Amalamo Simi, Matthew Canlas and Yiannis Fam) on finishing in 3^rd position in the teams event.  Wiko du Toit was unlucky to miss a placing in the B Grade competition, finishing in 4^th position by a mere two inners.  Amy Nathanson was best Brooklyn shooter in the D Grade section, finishing 7^th, followed by Matthew Canlas and Qiyun Goh in 8^th and 9^th places.

In a very close match on Wednesday with only one point separating the two teams, Brooklyn lost to Wellington Central in the open interclub shoot-off.  Top shot for Brooklyn was Pratik Tailor with 199.15.

Wellington were successful against Hutt Valley in both the open match and the women’s match.  Evan Little recorded an excellent 299.21 to be top shot on the day, while Meredith Ackrill’s 295.16 was the best in the women’s match.

In the Wellington v Waikato D Grade match shot last night, Waikato won by 11 points (out of 2000).  Anna was top Brooklyn shooter with 190.7 closely followed by Amy Nathanson with 190.5.

The final round of the Wellington closed champs has now been completed.  Congratulations to the following Brooklyn medal winners:

• Meredith Ackrill – 2^nd Master Grade 584.23 and top woman
• Evan Little – 1^st A Grade 592.30
• Dianne Grain – 2^nd A Grade 581.22
• Callum Osborne – 1^st B Grade 584.24
• Oscar Robinson – 1^st C Grade 586.29 and top junior
• Erin Little – 2^nd C Grade 580.24
• Anna – 1^st D Grade 562.18

The top 10 overall will compete in the final shoot-off on Tuesday 19 September (including Evan Little, Oscar Robinson, Callum Osborne, Meredith Ackrill, Craig Fair, Dianne Grain).

Time to start thinking about the end-of-year WSRA prizegiving.  As this year marks the association’s centenary, a special dinner is being organised at the Pines, Houghton Bay, on Friday 13 October ($40 each).  A form will be available at the club each Sunday prior to this date for ticket purchases – please complete your name and how many tickets you require.  Payment can be made direct to the club’s bank account.  Trophies and representative badges will be awarded throughout the evening.  Family members, ex-members, future members are all invited.  So come along and help celebrate the association’s achievement, as well as our club and individual members’ achievements.

Grading returns – please ensure these are up to date.  All competition scores need to be recorded (whole numbers only, not inners) for cards shot between 1 April and 30 September.  It is each shooter’s individual responsibility to complete their grading return, which will be collected in the first week of October for collation and forwarding to the national body, Target Shooting New Zealand.  Let me know if you have any problems.

Upcoming events:

• Friday 15 September, 7.30pm, Wellington v Hutt interclub winners match, Keene Range, Petone.  C Grade, 2x10: Oscar Robinson, Erin Little (captain), Inge Little, Amalamo Simi.  On call: Anna.  Team manager/equipment: Evan Little.
• Friday 15 September, 7.30pm, Wellington v Hutt C Grade representative match, Keene Range, Petone, 2x10.  Team TBC.
• Saturday 16 September, Hawkes Bay Open Champs, Hastings.
• Tuesday 19 September, 8.15pm, Final 10 of Wellington Closed Champs, 1x20, including: Evan Little, Oscar Robinson, Callum Osborne, Meredith Ackrill, Craig Fair, Dianne Grain.
• Saturday 23 September, North Island Open Champs, Palmerston North.

This week’s highlight would have to be the Osmond Shield and Wright Cup matches held on Saturday night.  It was great to have so many club members involved, and particularly pleasing to have our club retain both awards, even setting a new record for the Osmond Shield.  The #1 Osmond Shield team members shot extremely consistently, all scoring between 96 and 99, and gradually increased their lead over other teams as each round progressed.  Thanks to Meredith Ackrill who didn’t want to let the team down, and shot despite being quite ill, recording the 2^nd highest score in the team.  Top shot was Pratik Tailor with 99.4.  In the Wright Cup match, Wellington Central led for the first few rounds, then the lead switched to Brooklyn with some great scores shot.  Highest was Erin Little with 97.4 closely followed by Anna with 97.3.

Inge Little and Amy Nathanson recorded new 10-shot PBs yesterday (98.4 and 96.5 respectively) while four new 20-shot PBs were shot: Qiyun Goh 188.4, Matthew Canlas 185.5, Yiannis Fam 185.3, and William Chen 182.5.

Best on the rest this week was Rick with a new PB of 84.1.  The top five D Graders were Matthew Canlas 94.2, Yiannis Fam 94.2, Melchior Meares 93.2, Anna 93.1 and Ethan Haigh 92.2.  Inge Little’s 98.4 was best in C Grade, ahead of Erin Little with 95.1.  In B Grade Callum Osborne scored best with a phenomenal 98.8, followed by Craig Fair with 97.5.  In A Grade all five scores were 98s so it came down to inners – Evan Little 98.6 ahead of Dianne Grain with 98.5.  And in Master Grade Pratik Tailor’s 99.6 was the best score of the night.  Pratik also recorded the best 20-shot score of 198.12, followed by a flurry of 195s shot by Meredith Ackrill 195.11, Evan Little 195.8 and David Grain 195.6.

Wellington have convincingly won the Division 2 final in the National District Championship against Nelson, achieving a win in each of the three sections as well as a bonus point.  AND then won against Otago in the promotion / relegation match, which means next year we move up to Division 1.  Congratulations to Pratik Tailor, Craig Fair and Oscar Robinson on their mentions in the top scores section.  Pratik Tailor has also won the Simon Grant Trophy for highest individual aggregate score from the round robin section of the competition – a fantastic achievement.   NDC is one of the best shooting competitions on our calendar involving shooters from across all grades.  We will need to lift our game next year so please consider putting your name forward for selection at the beginning of the season.

In the regional secondary schools match held yesterday, Wellington came 2^nd behind Manawatu, and ahead of Hutt Valley.  Amalamo Simi recorded the best score of 189.6 from the Brooklyn shooters involved.

Now that the Triple S and Wellington Closed Champs competitions have finished (final results available later this week), we’ll relax a bit next Sunday afternoon and organise a couple of “fun” shoots.

A reminder to have a go at getting your marksmen’s badge, particularly if you look like moving up a grade next year.  Marksmen’s badge targets need to be shot by the end of September.  To achieve a D Grade badge you need to shoot a minimum of 175, and for a C Grade badge a minimum of 182.

Please ensure your grading spreadsheet is up to date as there are only three weeks left of grading season.

Good luck to our open interclub team in their shoot-off match against Wellington Central on Wednesday.

Upcoming events:

• Wednesday 6 September, 8.15pm, Open Grade interclub shoot-off, 1x20.
• Saturday 9 September, 2.00pm, Wellington v Hutt Valley Open and Women’s match, 1x10, 1x20.  Team TBC.
• Sunday 10 September, 7.45pm, Wellington v Waikato D Grade, 2x10.  Team: Casey Israelson, Chris Lockery, Jack MacCormick, Amy Nathanson, Anna.
• Friday 15 September, 7.30pm, Wellington v Hutt interclub winners match, Keene Range, Petone.  C Grade, 2x10: Team TBC.  Open Grade, 1x20: dependent on interclub shoot-off 6 September.
• Friday 15 September, 7.30pm, Wellington v Hutt C Grade representative match, Keene Range, Petone, 2x10.  Team TBC.
• Saturday 16 September, Hawkes Bay Open Champs, Hastings.
• Tuesday 19 September, 8.15pm, Final 10 of Wellington Closed Champs, 1x20.
• Saturday 23 September, North Island Open Champs, Palmerston North.