National call-up for our sharpshooters

SIGHTS SET: Wanganui's Raewyn Simpson during the North vs South smallbore target shooting challenge on Saturday.PHOTO/BEVAN CONLEY 150815WCBRCSHO01

Two of the three Wanganui Target Shooting members in the North vs South smallbore challenge earned the right to shoot for their country against England on Sunday.

The Okoia range hosted more than 100 shooters and managers for the weekend events, with the North vs South challenges held on Saturday to see who would qualify for the New Zealand team to compete the next day.

The international against England was a "postal" challenge, as the English shooters were competing on the same day at home, with the New Zealand targets being mailed to them to see who has the best scores.

On Saturday, Wanganui RSA's Raewyn Simpson, at this event for the 21st time, shot her three matches for a combined score of 388.18, which saw her into the New Zealand team in the veterans' category.

Taihape's Gary Cuff, of the Marton club, shot 388.20 to also make it through, very pleased to have made the cut at his second North vs South event.

"Definitely, and I've got a bit of a flu at the moment," Cuff said.

"Trying to stop myself from coughing at the same time as shooting."

In his first time at North vs South, Graeme Simpson finished with a 385.09 to miss qualifying.

However, he said the event had been great for Wanganui.

"It's brought a lot of money into the city.

"You've got the top shooters, on paper, if you look at all the averages."

North Island veterans beat their South Island counterparts 3891.155 to 3867.141.

South Island won the juniors event, while North Island won the women's and the open.

On Sunday, the New Zealand teams shot two matches each on the slightly different English paper targets, which have one fewer inner rings around the centre dot.

Cuff and the other NZ Veterans made a combined 2943 score, with Raewyn Simpson shooting as one of the two "emergencies" - extra results if needed to count with scores tied.

The NZ Juniors shot a combined 2919, NZ Women 2952, and the larger NZ Open team 7903.