Canadian National Field Target Championship Hosted by the Waterloo Field Target Club on July 25th & 26th, 2009 Match Report by Tim MacSweyn
On the days leading up to the match, the weather forecast changed almost hourly, but it was never a good forecast. The day before the match, the outlook for Saturday was bleak, but Sunday had some promise. As it turned out, that was fairly accurate, as the rain certainly fell on Saturday, but for the most part, Sunday was quite pleasant. In anticipation of the rain, tarps were put up over the shooting areas on the lanes for Saturday, but a communication breakdown resulted in lanes 13 and 15 being left uncovered. That created some problems when the rain hit during the last hour of the match. The rain let up enough for most everyone to complete their lanes. On Sunday, we all headed out before the match to cover all the lanes for Sunday. Wouldn’t you know that the tarps kept more sun off of us than the few drops of rain that fell for a couple of minutes during the match. So in spite of the weather, the match was completed successfully. I certainly believe that the concern about the weather was greatly overshadowed by the excellent shooting that was going on during the match. In the Hunter Division, Dennis L. and James J. shot together on the Saturday and were very close until Dennis’ experience in the Hunter Division began paying off and he started to build a lead. In the meantime, Rob was having a good day as well. Selma and Chris both shot well, but unfortunately were only able to attend on Saturday. On Sunday, Dennis L and James both had very good days, but Dennis was able to add a little to his lead and claimed the title of Canadian Champion in the Hunter Division. James took second in his first experience in the division and Rob was third. The Open Piston Division provided some excellent scores considering the weather and the effect it can have on the spring guns. On Saturday, all five shooters were near or over the fourty mark and George Harde and Bill were both fifty plus. On day two, George Harde and Bill continued to battle for the top spot. James S., Len and Ted all improved their scores over Saturday. George captured the title of Canadian Champion in Open Piston, and Bill chose the perfect match to score personal bests on both days to claim second. James S. made a good run on Sunday to claim third, while Ted and Len rounded out the scoring at fourth and fifth respectively. Our lone shooter in the Junior Hunter sure did have a great day shooting, posting a great score on the one day he was able to participate. Braden is the Junior Hunter Champion. In the WFTF PCP division, there were four competitors, but only two were able to make it on both days. Chris N. and Tom J. both had other obligation that only allowed them to participate on one day. Tom P. followed a great score on Saturday with another good score on Sunday to become Canadian Champion in the WFTF PCP division. Jordan moved into the FT section of competition and was awarded with a second place finish. Chris N. placed third and Tom J. came in at forth. The Open PCP division turned into the Greg and Don show fairly early as they were paired on day one and both shot perfect 60s on the day to set up the showdown on Sunday. Dennis E. and I had our own competition going, coming in tied at 56. Les, Magdy and Bert all shot good scores on Saturday. George Hamilton and Hans did not finish the course after the rain. On day two, Don and Greg continued to keep pace with each other and once again finished tied to force a shootout. The shootout started with a .75” kill zone at 43 yards, which proved a little too easy for both of them, so it was moved back to 46 yards. Don got his shot off first and pulled it slightly left to record the first miss. Greg took his time lining up the shot and then, with 15 seconds left on the timer, realized he had not cocked the action. He calmly cocked the gun, steadied his aim and took the target down with a few seconds to spare. I thought he was a music teacher, but maybe he has the potential for a career in drama. Greg is the Open PCP Match Champion and Don, as the top finishing Canadian, successfully defended his Canadian Champion award. I was fortunate enough to edge Dennis E. out for third; leaving Dennis at fourth and Les had a great day Sunday to claim the fifth position. Bert also had a real good day Sunday and ended up sixth. Magdy was unable to attend on Sunday, Hans did not finish the course and George Hamilton did not participate Sunday. So, in spite of the weather and some small glitches that are inevitable at a two day match, this will go down in my mind as another successful Canadian National match. Many thanks go to George Harde, James J, Hans and Bert for preparing the course and organizing the match. Thanks to Lisa Harde for organizing the squads and overseeing scoring, the meals and awards. Thanks also to Trudy Sumpter and Virginia Hamilton for helping Lisa with her tasks. Having ten people all set up two lanes each was also a great help and thanks goes to all of them for their efforts and interesting lane settings. As always, the overall success of a match is ultimately decided by the participants; sincere thanks go out to all who attended the match. The prize table held some great items that were donated by local businesses and other organizations. Everyone received at least one prize and a few ended up with two. Many thanks go to Shooter’s Choice, Cameron’s Flower Shop, Crossroads Restaurant, St Jacob’s Home Hardware, Picard’s Peanuts, New Dundee Pottery, A Vicious Cycle, Waterloo Field Target Club and the Port Colborne Field Target Club, who all contributed to the prize table.
With this match successfully completed, planning has already started for next year’s event to be hosted by the Port Colborne Field Target Club. We are aiming for the second weekend in July, the 10th and 11th and this date will be confirmed shortly. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the FT season and I look forward to seeing many of you at FT matches.
Tim
Results Chart Rank Name Sat./60 T30.4 Sun./60 T28.2 Total/120 Rifle Scope Pellet Open PCP 1 Greg Sauve US 60 57 117* Steyr LG100 Nikko 10-50 JSBH 2 Don Irvine**C 60 57 117* Steyr LG100FT S&B FT JSBH 3 Tim MacSweyn **C 56 56 112 USFT Tasco 8-40 CPH 4 Dennis Eden **C 56 54 110 Theoben MFR Leup. Comp 35 CPH 5 Les Grable US 49 55 104 Steyr LG100 Nikko JSBE 6 Bert Habicher**C 41 51 92 AA-S300 Simmons 6.5-20 Baracuda 7 Magdy Hassouna C 45 DNF 45(Sat) FWB P70 Deben 10-50 JSBH 8 George Hamilton US 31DNF DNF 31DNF AA Pro Target NF 36X CPH 9 Hans Bormann**C 12DNF 12DNF 24DNF HW100 Bushnell 8-32 Baracuda Open Piston 1 George Harde**C 53 56 109 TX200 Bushnell 8-32 JSBL 2 Bill S. C 50 53 103 Diana 54 Bushnell 8-32 JSBJ .22 3 James Sumpter US 41 48 89 TX200SR BSA 10-50 JSBL 4 Ted Gibson**C 41 44 85 TX200 Bushnell 8-32 JSBL 5 Len Joe C 38 43 81 FWB300 Bushnell 5-15 JSBE WFTF PCP 1 Tom Peretti**C 54 43 97 AA-S410 Bushnell 8-32 JSBL 2 Jordan Jackson C 33 26 59 AA-S200 Bushnell 8-32 CPL 3 Chris Nickolson C 55 DNF 55(Sat) Pro Target BSA 10-50 JSBL 4 Tom Jackson C DNF 36 36(Sun) AA S400 Nikko Diam JSBL Hunter Division /120 /120 /240 1 Dennis Leite**C 101 104 205 QB78 Leapers 8-32 JSBH 2 James Jackson**C 93 99 192 HW97K Hawke 8-32 CPL 3 Rob Billiard 85 85 170 QB78 Leapers JSBL 4 Chris Tye 78 DNF 78(Sat) QB78 Bushnell 3-9 JSBL 5 Selma Hassouna 60 DNF 60(Sat) DS Harrier Nikkon Baracuda Junior Hunter 1 Braden Meeboer C 81 DNF 81(Sat) CR 2289 Cent Point 4-16 JSBL * Shoot off ** Set up lanes C – Canadian US – American Bold – Canadian Division Champions
_________________ Tim CAFTA Governor and lifetime learner
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