Challenging conditions at Welsh 50M Open

A male Para athlete aims a target rifle from the "kneeling" position. As he is in a wheelchair, this means he allowed to rest his left elbow but the right elbow must be unsupported in free space. He wears visor bearing the Welsh dragon and a red and green shooting jacket.
by Web Teamin Competition News

This weekend saw competitors sweat it out in 29degree temperatures at the Welsh 50M Championships, held at Tondu Target Shooting Club.

Saturday morning saw uncommonly calm conditions for Tondu, leaving the firing point hot and humid. Competitors contested one of three elimination details with the top qualifers of each squad progressing to the Open Final on Saturday afternoon, and the top 15 WSRA members progressing to the Confined Final on Sunday morning.

Paris Paralympic Games medallist Tim Jeffrey managed the highest qualifying score to win X-Class with 623.7. He was closely followed by Alan Bain on 622.4. Chris Hunter also cracked the 620 mark with 620.3. In the Pairs, Rob Morgan and Alan Ainge of Torfaen took the B/C Pairs, whilst the Open Pairs saw a tie-break – Chris Hunter and Simon Green lost the countback to Tim Jeffrey and Alun Evans. Aidan Healy was top Welsh Junior whilst Chris Brown was top Veteran.

A welcome breeze picked up for the Open Final, where Tim improved on the moning with a score of 624.1 to become the 2025 Welsh Open Champion. Matt Dixon took silver and Chris Hunter bronze.

Sunday morning dawned with welcome drizzle and a fresher breeze. Liam Webster made the best of it to become Welsh Confined Champion with 610.1. Defending champion Richard Hemingway placed second, with Martin Newman in third. Liam became the first recipient of the DWF Phelps Welsh Outdoor Championship Trophy. In previous years prizes have been awarded for the confined championship, but the Association has now acquired a trophy for annual competition, which has been named to honour double Commonwealth Games gold medallist David Phelps.

Sunday also saw the Open Three-Position match, by which time the wind was back to “Tondu Standard”. Olivia Beech of Rugeley RC and Wigan TSC made the best of the difficult conditions with 564/600, closely followed by Alun Evans on 562 and Louis Norman on 558. A special mention to Neil Sinclair who suffered a non-allowable malfunction with his sights (meaning no extra time was granted) but managed to complete the match, finishing his entire Standing phase in the last 10 minutes with a 90 and 91, which got him to fourth place.

Enormous thanks go to organisers Dave Phelps, Rob Warnes and Niall Evans who brought the targetry to the site, ran the range and kept the event running smoothly. Thanks also go to Tondu TSC for the generous use of their range.

Full Results

  • A target shooter aims on a shooting range. They wear a red hat and a special blue and white jacket shooting which has the name "Jeffery" stitched onto the back of it.
  • Two people stand on a shooting range holding a trophy
  • Two people stand in front of a projection screen. The man wearing a formal jacket and tie presents prize to an athlete.
  • Two people stand in front of a projection screen. The man wearing a formal jacket and tie presents prize to an athlete.
  • Two people stand in front of a projection screen. The man wearing a formal jacket and tie presents prize to an athlete.
  • Three people stand in front of a projection screen. The man wearing a formal jacket and tie presents prizes to two athletes.
  • Two people stand in front of a projection screen. The man wearing a formal jacket and tie presents prize to an athlete.
  • Two people stand in front of a projection screen. The man wearing a formal jacket and tie presents prize to an athlete.
  • Two people stand in front of a projection screen. The man wearing a formal jacket and tie presents prize to an athlete.
  • Two people stand in front of a projection screen. The man wearing a formal jacket and tie presents prize to an athlete.
  • Two people stand in front of a projection screen. The man wearing a formal jacket and tie presents prize to an athlete.
  • Two people stand in front of a projection screen. The man wearing a formal jacket and tie presents prize to an athlete.
  • Two people stand in front of a projection screen. The man wearing a formal jacket and tie presents prize to an athlete.
  • Two people stand in front of a projection screen. The man wearing a formal jacket and tie presents a prize to an athlete.
  • Two people stand in front of a projection screen. The man wearing a formal jacket and tie presents a medal to an athlete.
  • Two people stand in front of a projection screen. The man wearing a formal jacket and tie presents a medal to an athlete.
  • Two people stand in front of a projection screen. The man wearing a formal jacket and tie presents a medal to an athlete.
  • Two people stand in front of a projection screen. The man wearing a formal jacket and tie presents a medal to an athlete.
  • Two people stand in front of a projection screen. The man wearing a formal jacket and tie presents a medal to an athlete.
  • Two people stand in front of a projection screen. The man wearing a formal jacket and tie presents a medal to an athlete.
  • Two people stand in front of a projection screen. The man in a red, white and green top presents a prize to an athlete.
  • Two people stand in front of a projection screen. The man in a red, white and green top presents a prize to an athlete.
  • Three people pose in front of a projection screen. The man in a red, white and green top presents a prize to an athlete wearing black who is seated in a wheelchair.
  • Two people stand in front of a projection screen. The man in a red, white and green top presents a prize to an athlete.
  • A male Para athlete aims a target rifle from the "kneeling" position. As he is in a wheelchair, this means he allowed to rest his left elbow but the right elbow must be unsupported in free space. He wears visor bearing the Welsh dragon and a red and green shooting jacket.
  • A female athlete loads a round into a smallbore target rifle The rearsight is mounted on tall sight raising blocks. The silver chassis bears the Walther logo.

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  1. Pingback: Gold and Silver for Olivia and Richard in Wales | Rugeley Rifle Club

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