Palma Match – World Championship of Long Range Rifle Shooting… WI stave off Germany to end 7th by 2 points; Goodluck is top Ind. at 66th of 128 shooters

Aug 15, 2015 Sports

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By Franklin Wilson at Camp Perry, Ohio, USA
compliments of NAMILCO, Ringbang,
Fazias Collection, Crown Mining Supply
and Queensway

The West Indies Fullbore Shooting Council (WIFBSC) contesting the Palma Match, the World Championship of Long Range Rifle Shooting, had to dig deep to end seventh of the eight teams when the most prestigious match in the shooting world concluded yesterday at Camp Perry, Ohio, USA.
Three West Indians on the day shot a possible, all at 800. Lennox Braithwaite (75-5), Jason Wood (75-8) his second back to back and Ransford Goodluck (75-9) also back to back.
Great Britain which enjoyed a 49-point lead over second placed USA going into yesterday’s final day increased that lead to easily take the championship by tallying a total of 7106 points and 825 Vs to be crowned world champs following up their triumph in the America Match last week.

The USA ended second with 7034 points and 725 Vs, followed by South Africa 7010-705; Australia 6983-738; New Zealand 6954-711; Canada 6856-634; West Indies 6614-410 and Germany 6612-440.
The Caribbean side held a slim 5-point advantage over the German’s going into yesterday’s second and final day. After the first range (800 yards) the Germans shot 1177-105 to the WI’s 1173-89.
In contrast to the opening day which saw a much bigger margin at this range, the Caribbean side improved tremendously to stay within striking distance. The swirling winds which tested the mettle of all the countries of the opening day was also the order of the day, yesterday.
At the penultimate range, 900 yards, the Germans turned the tables of the West Indies by accumulating a score of 1133-73 to the WI’ 1113-63. The six-nation WI team now found themselves trailing the German’s by 19 points going to the final and difficult 1000 yards.
While it was not a problem for the established and experienced Britain and a few of the other big nations to negotiate with the former already cementing their status as the best in the world, it was down to a fierce battle at the bottom of the table between the West Indians and Germans.
Shooters and other officials from both teams were seen checking each other’s scoreboard after each competitor would have completed 15 rounds, as the tension rose in the windy, sunny, yet chilly conditions.
This range (1000) was always going to be a challenge for the competing nations based on what transpired on day one. The British were able to better their first day performance and as they hit the target with much better accuracy. They did not drop a single point at the 800 range achieving the maximum 1200 like Australia.
When the final shot was fired, the West Indies like they did on day one, proved better at this range by accumulating 1029-46 to Germany’s 1008-43 to take the 7th place avoiding a bottom place finish. It was the West Indies’ best performance on the world stage.
In the top 10 Overall shooters, Great Britain had the top six with Toby Raincock winning with a phenomenal overall score of 449-55 dropping just a single point in the six ranges shot. He was followed by Jon Underwood (447-49), David Luckman (446-57), Jon Tapster (446-57), Tom Rylands (445-54), Tom Drysdale (445-48), USA’s John Whidden (445-45), Great Britain’s Parag Patel (444-62), Australia’s Jim Bailey (444-54), and New Zealand’s Bradley Palatchie (444-53).
Ransford Goodluck was the leading West Indian placing 66th of the 128 shooters who were rated; each team was made up of sixteen (16). Lennox Braithwaite ended in 90th place followed by Sherwin Felicien (96), Marlon King (98), Anderson Perry (99), Jason Wood (102), Dylan Fields (108), Mahendra Persaud (109), Ryan Sampson (113), Norris Gomez (115), Sigmund Douglas (117), Peter Persaud (120), Michael Perez (121), John Fraser (123), Leo Romalho (124) and Thomas Greenaway, 128.
Head Coach and stand in Captain, Paul Slowe who had to step up following the departure of Non-Shooting Captain Major John Nelson due to unforeseen circumstances, said he felt the team did fairly well in challenging conditions especially at 900 and 1000 yards.
“We started very well today, we exceeded expectations at 800 yards but I am not sure what went wrong at 900 yards, we’ll have to analyze that. But you know 1000 yards is 1000 yards and you will always have difficulties there. I did observe that as the day progressed, conditions deteriorated.”
Slowe, noted that it was the biggest stage in the world and it was good to have been there. “You could have seen from the Great Britain performance that they are just top quality shooters, we haven’t reached that level as yet but we are aiming to get there; it’s a work in progress.”
He noted that one of the challenges that West Indian shooters face is the lack of regular shooting as compared to the bigger nations.
“The Great Britain team would have been practicing for one year now and being afforded the opportunity to shoot as a team. We also named our team one year ago but couldn’t do as they did. All in all I think we did well.”
Following is the stats for day 2 of the Palma Match as well as the Overall Individual Aggregate of the shooters and the team.
Name 800 900 1000 Ind. Agg. Overall
Ransford Goodluck 75-9 74-4 71-8 220-21 (436-42)
Lennox Braithwaite 75-5 73-9 66-3 214-17 (427-34)
Sherwin Felicen 73-6 69-5 67-1 209-12 (425-25)
Marlon King 74-7 72-7 60-3 206-17 (424-36)
Anderson Perry 73-5 71-4 65-4 209-13 (424-32)
Jason Wood 75-8 72-4 64-1 211-13 (422-31)
Dylan Fields 73-5 71-3 66-4 210-12 (418-20)
Mahendra Persaud 74-8 74-5 65-3 213-16 (417-26)
Ryan Sampson 74-3 68-2 63-4 205-09 (413-20)
Norris Gomez 75-4 68-4 65-4 208-12 (412-23)
Sigmund Douglas 74-3 71-5 66-1 211-09 (411-19)
Peter Persaud 73-6 68-2 66-4 207-12 (406-25)
Michael Perez 74-6 68-1 62-1 204-08 (406-19)
John Fraser 72-4 68-4 58-0 198-08 (402-24)
Leo Romalho 69-6 64-4 67-4 200-14 (401-23)
Tommy Greenaway 70-4 62-0 58-1 190-05 (370-11)
Total 1173-89 1113-63 1029-46 3315.198 (6614-410)

Overall Country Scores
Great Britain 7106-825
USA 7034-725
South Africa 7010-705
Australia 6983-738
New Zealand 6954-711
Canada 6856-634
West Indies 6614-410
Germany 6612-440

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