On Thursday the 13th of September Vikki Walls, Brogan Smith, Ruaraidh Macleod and Tom Diggle headed across to the Commonwealth Shooting Federations (European Division) that was being held in Northern Ireland.
After settling in to accommodation and a good hearty meal the boys all went off to the 50m range for some pre-event training (PET), whilst Vikki stayed behind anticipation her 10m Air rifle match. Vikki manged to qualify for the final and did herself proud finishing in fourth place after a few shots that ‘got away’ when perhaps she didn’t want them to.
The Saturday saw the start of the 50m Prone match and Ruaraidh was first up. He had manged to get to grips with the wind even with struggling in PET. He finished up on a 618.1 and with a very smiley face, earning himself a silver medal. Vikki, Brogan and Tom were then up for their 50m Prone match. Vikki again put in a good performance and manged to secure a silver medal for the team. Tom manged to recover from a few dodgy shots and put in a 617.6. Overall, we were all very happy with the day earning two medals for the team.
That night the team were invited to a banquet with all the other teams participating in the CSF(ED). It was a very well-run event and the highlight being that Vikki and Ruaraidh were presented with their medals.
We were all back at the Comber rifle range early the next day for the 3P match. The wind and light conditions made it a little more difficult, with shots often not going where they were intended! Tom manged to put in a new personal best with a 1128. Whilst Brogan and Ruaraidh both finished on 1118 with Vikki just pipping them with a 1119. The final of the 3P match was something to behold with Stuart Hill having an impressive lead for a time, however Vikki manged to come back and beat him, finishing up in 1st place with some very good standing. Ruaraidh followed in 3rd place. Overall the team finished up with 4 individual medals and some very impressive memories of Northern Ireland!
Report: Tom Diggle
Photographs: Vikki Walls