Day 9 – The Final Shootoff
10 Aug 2014, Posted by in DiaryToday was the final day of individual shooting and consequently the last opportunity to impress before the teams were picked for the Mini Palma match on Sunday. At roll call and ‘colors’ it looked like there might be very little wind, although the locals suggested otherwise. Indeed, when the preparation time was called, the wind duly rose to levels that were stronger than yesterday. The strength and gustiness of the wind proved to be a problem for some people, particularly as the course of fire for the day was two sighters and 15 to count at 1,000 yards twice. Despite the conditions, there were some notable performances with Jon Underwood managing a 75 in the second shoot of the morning and Tom Drysdale, Jane Messer and Paul Wheeler each collecting a brace of 74s. Jane’s performance was enough to get her into the top 10 for the Grand Aggregate and a shoot-off after lunch.
The shoot-off for the top 10 in the Grand was conducted in a manner similar to the Queen’s Final at Bisley, albeit in string fire. The register keepers had large boards with targets on to place the shots, which could be seen by the assembled audience, many of whom were spectating from a grandstand directly behind. This meant that there was a great atmosphere and buzz for the shoot-off.
The course of fire was a further two sighters and 15 to count, again at 1,000 yards. There were two other Brits in the final 10: Matt Button from the BCRC team and Steven Thomas from the GB Veterans. The score they got was added to their Grand score to decide the winner. Jane was set up on target 84 and when firing commenced she promptly put her first sighter on target 80 (Steve Thomas’s target, apparently done deliberately as she thought she was on 80). Naturally it was a bull! She finished with a 70 to end up 7th overall with Matt Button the top Briton in 4th place.
The early finish, compared to all the previous days, meant that the team could get back to the condos early and many could catch up with chores whilst team management met to decide the teams for the next day. This did, inevitably, require occupation of McDonalds as the only decent source of WiFi. The evening was a quiet one in preparation for the match the next day, with several different sets of dinner plans.
