The Scottish Target Shooting Pistol Squad were out in full force over the last week in various parts of Europe. The senior men started us off in Dortmund before being joined by other in North Wales while Aedan Evans was away with the junior rifle squad in Dortmund, and Jess Liddon was in Poland.
Alan enjoys success in Dortmund
Aedan experiences success for Scotland in Germany
First up in Dortmund was 50m free pistol where Alan Goodall shot an impressive 534 finishing in 13th, accompanied by teammate David Owen who finished in 22nd on 515. The men were in action again in the air pistol event where David finished in 14th with a score of 567 followed by Alan in 24th with a 560.
The team was then scattered across Europe the following weekend with Alan returning to the UK and being joined by Andy Ralston and Caroline Brownlie in Wrexham for the North Wales Airgun. In competition 1, Alan came 2nd with a 568, Caroline 11th and was second lady with 554 (365) followed by Andy, who was 16th with a 546. In competition 2, Alan was 3rd with a 563 narrowly beating Caroline by 2xs who improved from her first match, finishing in 4th with a 563 (373). Andy also had a better match finishing in 11th with a 550. In competition 4, Andy continued his upward trajectory adding 10 points to his previous score earning him 4th place with a 560. Alan was the only Scot to reach the final finishing in 6th place.
Jess against a strong field in Wroclaw
Over in Germany, Aedan was competing in the ISAS Junior Competition in Dortmund. Currently in great form, he shot a fantastic 573, 7 points ahead of second place in qualification. Carrying this form through to the final he finished in first place with a score of 238.8, a new Scottish record (and British - to be confirmed).
Meanwhile Jess Liddon competed in Wroclaw (pronounced "Vrots-waht" as discovered on departure). The competition was strong with at least seven Olympians in the field. Up first was sport pistol where Jess scored 282 in the precision section, followed by 278 in the rapid half leaving her on a total score of 560, 18th overall. The second day was another sport pistol match where Jess improved her performance with a 288 in precision and 276 in rapid giving her 564 and 15th place. The final day saw her compete in air pistol finishing on a 369 putting her in 15th position. The organisers found a partner for Jess for the mixed team which was also a great experience.
Report by Tim Liddon