Duncan Davies wins Wingham Prize Shoot

Davies won by four centres over defending champion Peter Thurtell from Wingham Rifle Club.  Both shot perfect scores of 325 with only centres of 54 to Davies and 50 to Thurtell separating the two.

The predicted bad weather did not eventuate in Wingham, with only the occasional light shower on Saturday.  

While the official entry number of 94 was down from the usual 110 plus of previous years, this was largely due to the weather in the week leading in the event.   

Saturday matches were 10 shots at 600 yards, 500 yards and 400 metres.  Wingham member and Commonwealth Games contender Peter Thurtell won the 600 yard range in target rifle A-grade with a staggering 50 with nine centres and was closely followed by son Lyndon Thurtell with a score of 50 with seven centres.

Shooters then moved down to the 500 yard range with another Wingham member Christina Adams posting a blistering 60 with eight centres to take home the win on this range in F Standard B-grade.  Adams nudged out husband Duncan Robinson, who shot an excellent 60 with two centres.

 The final range of the day was at 400 metres where  Wingham Rifle Club scored a hat-trick with local Ean Heaney winning this range in F Standard B-grade with an excellent shoot of 59 with five centres.

At the end of day one, both Peter Thurtell and Christina Adams were sitting in second position on the board in their respective disciplines and grades.

Sunday was an early start, with first shots away at 8am.  Weather conditions were perfect, however an early fog did drift across the targets. 

The first match was at the 500-yard range.  Target rifle A-grade was hotly contested between Duncan Davies, Lyndon Thurtell and Peter Thurtell all posting identical scores of 50 with seven centres.  The winning order, on count back was Davies in 1st position, with Lyndon nudging out his father Peter to take out second and third respectively.

The last two matches were shot at the 600-yard range. The first match was a 10 shot, with the last match of the day being contended over 15 shots. Once again, perfect conditions lead to many perfect scores thought the ranges. In target rifle A-grade, junior shooter Alex Davies from West Wallsend shot and absolute perfect score of 50 with 10 centres to nudge out Peter Thurtell on 50 with eight centres. 

Ean Heaney from Wingham had an absolute blinder in F standard B-grade to post a 59 with two centres.  Unfortunately for Christina Adams and Duncan Robinson, this range was their nemesis and both dropped valuable points. Final match was a 15 shots on the 600 yard range. Best possible scores for this match would be 75 with 15 centres for target rifle discipline or 90 with 15 centres for F Class shooters.

​Once again, Peter Thurtell didn’t drop a shot to post a 75 with 12 centres.  Ean Heaney, who shot consistently all weekend, posted an excellent 89 with five centres to win this stage.

So, at the end of day two, the leader board still had Peter Thurtell from Wingham in first place in the target rifle A-grade and Ean Heaney, also from Wingham, was sitting in second place in F standard B-grade. Totals for each range over the two days were combined to obtain the grand aggregate scores for each shooter and decide the overall winners of the various grades.

David Smith from Mosman Neutral Bay RC, who is also a junior shooter, was the winner in target rifle B-grade with a total of 324 and 42 centres. Ricky Li from Sydney High School rounded out the target rifle discipline with a win in C-grade posting and excellent score of 310 with 16 centres. 

Best possible aggregate score for F Class discipline is 390 plus centres.  F Class A-grade was hotly contested all weekend with the first three placing’s all posting scores of 387 and placing’s decided by the number of centres.

John Kent from Fashions Mount Wellington Rifle Club was the winner with a final tally of 387 and 38 centres, over Marriette Rigby from Gosford District in second place on 387 and 31 centres. Eva Patrick from Roseville Rifle Club was third with a score of 387 and 27 centres.

F Standard B-grade winner was Nick De Bellis from Grafton with a very good score of 381 and 22 centres. Richard Rostron from BHP Rifle Club was second with 379 and 25 centres and only one centre behind for third place was Ean Heaney with a final score of 379 and 24 centres.

Wingham Shooters finished very well, considering that many of the club’s best shooters did not compete as they were actually running the event.

Ean Heaney, who shot very consistently all weekend, and Duncan Robinson from Wingham have advanced in the rankings to become A Grade shooters in F Class Standard.

A full list of the results for all matches can be found on the Wingham Rifle Club website:   www.winghamrifleclub.com