Wanganui shooters to target high competition finish

Wanganui's representative shooters have their sights firmly set on making an impression on their other North Island peers today in Levin.

The Teams of Ten competition is being held at the McLennan Range at Porotawhao on the outskirts of town.

It will involve 15 teams from all the North Island associations, around 160-170 shooters in total, and starts this morning with the tenth seeded competitors from each team facing down the target.

From there, all the ninth seeds will shoot and carry on to each team's No1 seed their best shooter before reserves have a shot and then the rotation starts again.

"They're shooting 20 scoring shots, then in the afternoon 20 more scoring shots," said Target Shooting Wanganui's Paul Turner.

The maximum which an individual could score, on a perfect day, would be 400.40.

Turner said 400 had been shot at this level before but he had yet to see someone go the maximum.

The Wanganui Association squad members were among those who received special tips from visiting New South Wales director of shooting Gordon de Groen last month at the Okoia range.

The team then had a trial matchup against the Manawatu association teams and, although as expected they could not beat the No 1 team, they did defeat the No 2 selection squad.

"In Wanganui, we have one Master grade shooter. They have ten in their top team," said Turner. "We punch pretty well above our weight."

At the Teams of Ten, the teams compete together but could contest two trophies the lower level was the Jim Hart trophy which Wanganui has won before, but Turner said they wanted to be among the top teams in the Rees Scroll.

Last year the Wanganui shooters finished middle of the road in 8th spot overall.

The competition starts at 8.30am and continues to around 6pm. The Wanganui Association team, with their shooting grades listed, is:

1. Steve Horrell (Master); 2. Gordon Eastabrook (A); 3. Raewyne Simpson (A); 4. Trevor Rush (B); 5. Fred de-Burgh (A); 6. Tony Bayler (A); 7. Gary Cuff (A); 8. Peter Lissington (A); 9. Paul Turner (B); 10. Graeme Simpson (B); Reserve: Dave Westcott (B); On-call: John Goodare (B); Manager: Neville Rhodes.