GREAT anticipation was felt during the opening of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) National competition recently.
There were air pistol, as well as the .22, .32, .38 and 9mm, shoots. Contestants represented Western Cape, Eastern Cape, North West, SAPS, SANDF, KwaZulu-Natal, Southern Gauteng, Gauteng North and Central Gauteng.
The Air Pistol event (a popular Olympic event) is shot indoors on the 10-metre range at a static target. The winning female was Cassandra Stark and winning male was Francois van Tonder.
Francois had a superb competition as he won all seven events he entered. These were: 50 Yards (.22 shot over a distance of 50 yards), Centre Fire (a deliberate and a speed shoot combined), Rapid Fire (shooting series of five shots on five different targets – one shot per target), Air Pistol Men, Free Pistol (deliberate at 50 metres), Standard Pistol (series of five shots in 150, 20 and 10 seconds), Military Rapid (60 shots in series of five in 10, eight and six seconds).
Cassandra Stark, a resident of Alberton, took the gold medal in two of the three events she shot; highest scores in Ladies Air Pistol and Ladies Sport Pistol and second in 50 Yards. This resulted in her winning the overall trophy, which is nearly half the size of her.
There was also a mixed team event which was electrifying. It was a timed event in which the lady had to fire, then the gentleman and this was repeated in a series of 10 shots. If the sequence is broken there is a two-point deduction. The participants had not experienced this kind of elimination shoot before. Shaun Kennedy (from Alberton club) and his partner Elsje Swart (from SAPS) won the event. The husband and wife van Tonder team came second. In fourth place was Cassandra Stark and Von Zeuner Kohne (South Africa’s Paralympian).
The penultimate event was the Mayleigh Cup. This is where the top 12 shooters in the country compete against the other Common Wealth Countries in a postal shoot. Cassandra Stark, Luigi il Grande, Michael Josselwitz and Shaun Kennedy, all from Alberton, represented South Africa in this event. Cassandra had the highest score of the four of them.
If anyone would like to join the Alberton Sports Shooting Club please contact Manny da Sousa on 082 411 1798.
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