Today was the final day of the Grand Aggregate, and with three of our team in the top 10 overnight including Matthew Ensor in first place, hopes were high. Those who still wanted more practice reading the tricky Bloemfontein range or were in with a chance of a high finish in the Grand headed to the range. However, because our main goal is victory in next week’s Palma match, for others taking the day to recover from the heat was the best preparation for next week and they stayed back at the hotel.
For those of us at the General De Wet range, the first match of a busy day was the Dalrymple Cup, 2 sighters and 10 scoring shots at 300m followed by 2 sighters and 11 scoring shots at 600m – for a maximum total score of 105. Unlike the rest of the week, as we arrived at the range the flags were flat on the flagpoles, and didn’t move much for both relays at 300m. As a result many of the team posted 50s, with Chris Mitchell’s perfect 50.10v leading the way.
As we fell back to 600m it was still before 10, and puddles were still on the range from last night’s storms so although more humid, it felt more manageable heat wise. The wind machine however did start to turn on. Still relatively steady, there were points where four minute wind changes were needed if you wanted to hit the middle. Clearly the team are getting the hang of the wind though, with James Watson, David Luckman and Matthew Ensor’s 55.9v the best. This left James Watson and Chris Mitchell on 105.16v, tied with Albert Smit of South Africa for first place.
Back to 900m and the Col. R. Bodley Memorial Match. Col. R. Bodley was a leading South African Shooter in the early part of the 20th Century. He captained South Africa and won the St Georges Vase during the Imperial Meeting in 1920. He also placed 3rd in HM The King’s Prize in 1938. The match is 2&10, fired after our early lunch at 1230 in the peak of the day’s sun. The wind was definitely more tricky, with mid 40s being a common score, and magpies a plenty. This was of course also the last shoot of the Grand Aggregate, so with Matthew Ensor’s 50.5v being the only clean score on the team, it won’t surprise you that Matthew finished highest in the team and the whole competition, the 2024 South African Bisley Union Grand Aggregate Winner! Provisional results have Matthew in 1st place on 559 points, 2 ahead of 2nd place and only vee bulls separating the next 4 firers. Congratulations also to Glyn Barnett for finishing 8th and David Luckman for finishing in 9th.
To end the day, there were two tie shoots, both of which featured two of the team. Theo Dodds and Nick Healy were vying for the State President First Stage, and James Watson and Chris Mitchell for the Dalrymple Cup. With the wind at 600m now up to 7 minutes (if the outer 2 sighter is to be believed), inners and magpies featured! On this occasion both tie shoots were won by the South Africans, with Riaan Gouws continuing his good form to take the State President First Stage (Theo in 2nd and Nick 3rd) and Albert Smit taking the Dalrymple from James in 2nd and Chris 3rd.
After shooting finished the team met back up at the hotel to prepare for the evening’s formal Protea Dinner event and for the announcement of the GB team for the Protea Match. The Protea dinner is held annually by SABU and as a tradition includes the presentation of the teams for the following day’s matches. With this year’s meeting being a World Championship meeting not only were there the Protea teams to announce, but also the U21 and U25 World Team Championships teams to announce and the U25, U21 and Veterans individual prizes to be distributed as these matches were based in the SABU Grand Aggregate. The winners were warmly congratulated and included medals for several of the U21 and U25 team members.
Formalities over, we headed back to the hotel to prepare and sleep in advance of tomorrow’s match – please follow the link on the tour home page to follow the live scores as they are posted.
