The Scottish 50m Rifle Championships is part of the 2017 Team Scotland Series
On the weekend of 15/16 July, the Denwood range in Aberdeen was host to the 2017 50m Rifle Championship, which this year formed part of the Team Scotland series. There were representatives from England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Norway and of course Scotland. The event consisted of Women's 3P and Men’s Prone on Saturday and Men's 3P and Women’s Prone on Sunday. Saturday was wet with the mist coming in for a while in the afternoon. Sunday was sunny with clouds and a breeze that started to gust during the finals.
On the Saturday, the qualification for the Women's 3P saw Jennifer McIntosh shoot 590 to equal the British and Scottish qualifying score. However, the honours in the finals went to Seonaid McIntosh in the Women's 3P and to Neil Stirton in the Men's Prone. Vikki Walls and Tom Diggle were the top Juniors in the Women's 3P and Men's Prone respectively.
Saturday evening saw many of the juniors and their coaches and some hangers on, like the range staff, enjoying a BBQ organized by Jake Smith and Gaynor Warren. Thank you.
Sunday started with the Men's 3P followed by the Women's Prone. Neil Stirton made it 2 out of 2 by winning the Men's 3P final with a score of 450.6. In the Women's Prone the winner was Jennifer McIntosh with a score of 620.6. The top Juniors were Brogan Smith and Pheobe Taylor, in their respective events.
This was the best attended 50m Championship that I have been involved with. There were 66 competitors with 97 starts. This made for a good atmosphere, which hopefully every one enjoyed whether this was your first time or you are a veteran of these events. It would be great to see us reach 100 starts next years.
Report by Gavin Walker and photos by Donald McIntosh