These are some of the stories from the target shooting world that you might have missed…
Medal 1-2 for Seonaid in Rio
Seonaid McIntosh won gold in women’s three-position rifle at the ISSF World Cup in Rio – just three days after she won silver in the air rifle at the same meeting.
She qualified for the final in third place, then dominated in the final, her score of 461.2 nearly three full points ahead of silver-medallist Jehee Kim. This makes Seonaid the first Brit to win a rifle World Cup gold since 2002.
This followed her silver in the air rifle, the first medal in a World Cup airgun event in 20 years. In the final, she shot 250.6 to finish second behind India’s Elavenil Valarivan.
Speaking after this event, Seonaid said: “I’m really happy with the medal. Right now I’m more pleased with this medal than most of my previous ones.
“Particularly because air rifle has always been an event I’m not so good on. I’ve been working really hard on it so it’s really nice to have a good result.”
Having already won a quota place for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics earlier this year, Seonaid must count as Great Britain’s strongest medal hope for an Olympic rifle or pistol discipline in some years.
She is now ranked eight in the world in women’s air rifle, and first in the world in women’s 3p.
Dodds is Roberts champion
Theo Dodds became the British Small-bore Champion on 17 August, winning the Roberts Final after a tense tie-shoot.
Shot over four details split betwen 50-metre and 100-yard distances on Century Range at Bisley, this year’s Roberts Final – which concluded the NSRA’s week-long Bisley Meeting – saw variable conditions, with gusts of wind that were at times very strong and unpredictable.
After the four cards had been completed, Theo Dodds and James Paterson were level on 778. So there would be a tie shoot – one 20-minute detail shoot at 100 yards.
At the end of the tie shoot there was only one point in it: 191 to 190 in favour of Dodds, who was crowned British Long Range Champion for 2019.
Theo joins a small number of competitors who have managed to do the ‘double’ of the Aggregate and the Roberts in the same year. He scored 2716 in the week-long Aggregate, which comprises 280 shots split equally between 50 metres and 100 yards. In second, Lina Jones was just one point behind him.
Alternative Commonwealth event?
Negotiations are under way to secure a Commonwealth Shooting Championships around the time of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, with Altcar Ranges near Liverpool being floated as a possible venue.
The Birmingham 2022 organisers confirmed shooting would not be part of the Games, sparking a furious reaction from India, who threatened to boycott the Games altogether.
Britain’s sports minister, Nigel Adams, said: “I have already written to the Commonwealth Games Federation to see if we can accommodate shooting in some form, maybe a Commonwealth Shooting Championships,” adding, “It’s important that we do get a competition in 2022.
“I totally understand how passionate people are about shooting across the Commonwealth. We want India to be here, no question.”
The CGF has responded that any championships in Britain would have to be organised by British Shooting, could not be hosted simultaneously with the Games, and would need the approval of the CGF.
British Shooting are reported as saying: “As the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) member federation in Britain, we are happy to work with all the relevant bodies to gauge the appetite for such an event.”
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