Sian Corish became British Three-Position Rifle Champion on Sunday at the NSRA British 50Metre Championships. Alun Evans took Bronze. Held at Tondu TSC with the support of Welsh Shooting, the match was well attended by participants from across the UK.
Alun and Sian qualified for the 8-person final in third and fifth respectively. Aidan Healy led qualification, but slipped to finish eighth in the final.
Sian also finished sixth in the Open Prone Rifle event.
Tondu shooters Sian Corish and Alun Evans dominated the Welsh 50Metre Rifle Championships this year. Sian became Welsh Prone Confined Champion and Open 3-Position Champion. Alan was Prone Open Champion and runner-up in the 3P. The event was well attended again this year, with a fourth Prone elimination detail added on Saturday, and Sunday’s 3-Position Rifle event fully subscribed. With Tondu hosting the British 50M championships later in June, many national shooters were keen to dial into the range and entrants came from across the UK, including from Northern Ireland and Jersey.
Saturday dawned with classic Tondu winds, leaving scores down across the board. Sian Corish had the highest result in an elimination detail with 615.5, followed by Louise Aiken and Chris Hunter with 613s. Many shooters were ten points off their average, although Chloe John-Driscoll managed a PB and new Welsh Junior Women’s Prone Record with her qualification score of 601.9.
The top 15 from the four eliminators progressed to the Open Final, another 60-shot match. Winds had calmed somewhat in the afternoon and scores climbed with more competitors breaking 610. Alun Evans made the best of it scoring 619.4, followed by Tim Jeffery on 615.5 and Chris Hunter on 615.3. Paige Fryer was Open Junior Champion, and Chris Brown was leading Veteran.
The top 15 Welsh competitors gathered for the Confined Final on Sunday morning with conditions bright, and the wind still tricky but more settled than Saturday. Sian Corish bagged her first medal and the DWF Phelps Trophy with a score of 612.6. Adam Gabrys was runner up with 607.3 and the battle for third was particularly tight with John Moore’s 606.6 just beating out Richard Hemingway’s 606.5 and Fred Brown’s 606.4.
The Three-Position Rifle was a Welsh lock-out. Sian Corish was gold medal position, with Alun Evans and Aidan Healy picking up Silver and Bronze. Scotland’s Neil Sinclair was fourth, a single point behind Aidan. Alun’s 573 was a British Shooting Para-Sport Minimum Consideration Score, helping him on his Paralympic ambitions.
The Association thanks Tondu TSC for the generous use of their range, and to all the volunteers who made the meeting a success.
Full results available at Megalink Results.
| Gold | Silver | Bronze | |
| Open Prone | Alun Evans – 619.4 Tondu TSC | Tim Jeffery – 615.5 Havant RC | Chris Hunter – 615.3 Down Hatherley |
| Confined Prone | Sian Corish – 612.6 Tondu TSC | Adam Gabrys – 607.3 Torfaen RC | John Moore – 606.6 Penarth RC |
| Open Three-Position | Sian Corish – 577-26x Tondu TSC | Alun Evans – 573-19x Tondu TSC | Aidan Healy – 566-17x Bookham RC |
| Junior Prone | Paige Fryer – 607.6 Jersey Outdoor | Libby Hart – 604.7 Jersey Outdoor | Louis Norman – 603.7 Budleigh Farm TSC |
| Veterans Prone | Chris Brown – 606.2 Leicester District | Fred Brown – 599.7 Tondu TSC | Terry Thomas – 594.3 Tondu TSC |
| Open Prone Pairs | Sian Corish David George | ||
| B/C Class Prone Pairs | Alan Ainge Steve Gurner |
The WSRA invites members to express their interest in nominating themselves to represent Wales at the following team matches:
The more attendees Wales can field at the Bisley National Meeting, the better we can achieve collectively.
The tent at Bisley has been organised for the sole benefit of WSRA members, we should have the same pitch location which has worked well for us the past few years.
I look forward to hearing back from lots of you soon, and catching up at competitions and training over the summer.
Dave Phelps
The 2026 Championships held at the Penarth Rifle Range played host to competitors from eight clubs ranging from Altrincham in the north, Penrhiwpal in West Wales, and Ross-on Wye and Chepstow in the east, as well as the local Tondu, Torfaen, Llantrisant & Cardiff and Penarth clubs being represented.
Originally purely for prone shooters, the competition now includes both benchrest and new this year, sporting rifle (LSR) disciplines.
Although the inaugural LSR competition did not attract as much interest as hoped, it was a fast-fire event enjoyed by the shooters and won by Penarth’s Pennie Burton.
The confined prone competition was won by Sian Corish (Tondu) just pipping Penarth’s John Moore on countback. The Open C-Class was also hotly contested by two talented junior shooters with Penrhiwpal’s Chloe John-Driscoll only losing on countback to Brin Rose who enjoyed home-range advantage.
The benchrest competition was well-attended again this year with our long-distance travellers making their trips worthwhile by winning their respective classes – Keith Pyecroft from Altrincham winning the Open competition, Ross-on-Wye’s Rob Parkinson winning B-Class, and Steve Brace from Chepstow winning C-Class.
Pennie Burton added to her LSR win by becoming the confined benchrest champion. Our thanks to the Penarth members who helped organise and run the competition and the use of their range.
The WSRA also run short-range local-scoring postal summer and winter leagues for both prone (Wales and Monmouthshire) and benchrest shooters. There are leagues for individuals and teams of three split into divisions of 5 to 8 shooters/teams by average. Each competition is 10 rounds, ex100: team competitions may be shot concurrently. Thanks to the NSRA Club Finder we have so far attracted shooters from as far afield as Whitby, Anglesey and Ashford. And …. this winter season, we had our first benchrest HPS score of 1000 with 42 X’s: several other competitors were close on the winner’s heels.
| Prone | |
| Sian Corish | A Class Winner & Confined Champion |
| John Moore | B Class Winner |
| Brinley Rose | C Class Winner |
| John Morris | Tyro Winner |
| Benchrest | |
| Keith Pyecroft | A Class Winner |
| Pennie Burton | Confined Champion |
| Rob Parkinson | B Class Winner |
| Steve Brace | C Class Winner |
| Lightweight Sport Rifle | |
| Pennie Burton | Winner & Confined Champion |
Aidan Healy was leading Three-Position Rifle competitor at British Shooting’s trial shoots in Wigan this weekend, exceeding his Personal Best and National Record in the process.
Aidan, who set a British Junior Record of 571/600 at the British 50Metre Championships in August, went one better to score 572 on Sunday. He had already shot a 568 on Saturday to win the first day’s trials. Olivia Beech of Rugeley came second on 561, with Louis Norman third with 559.
Aidan’s score will not be a formal record however as the trials were shot on Wigan’s 50 metre indoor range, serving a comparative role for selection purposes – three-position rifle is formally an outdoor event and records must be shot outdoors.
When outdoor shooting resumes next year, Aidan will also have robust competition from the north – Scottish junior Neil Sinclair shot a 576 on Sunday. This was the highest single match score of the weekend, although his aggregate over both days was lower than Aidan’s. We can expect to see records change hands in 2026.
Welsh shooters represented at the English Open 50M Championships at NSRA Aldersley this weekend, following in the footsteps of Liam Webster’s Open Championship win last year.
In the 50M Prone, Alun Evans of Tondu and Richard Hemingway of Rugeley qualified 3rd and 4th with 616.5 and 616.2 respectively. Also making it to the Championship shoot were John Moore of Penarth and Adam Gabrys of Torfaen. Steve Gurner and Mick Crook were eliminated in the first stage.
In the Prone Championship match, English competitor Shelbie Marsland ran away with the win, scoring 620.1. Behind her was a six-way battle for the remaining medals, with scores between 615.5 and 616.5. Richard and Alun placed 5th and 7th respectively. John Moore placed 13th and Adam Gabrys 14th.
Top scores in the Prone Medal battle:
| COmpetitor | score | position |
|---|---|---|
| Shelbie Marsland | 620.1 | Open & Confined Champion |
| Sean Bett | 616.5 | Open & Confined 2nd |
| Kosta Loukas | 616.3 | Open 3rd |
| Simon Green | 616.0 | Open 4th/Confined 3rd |
| Richard Hemingway | 615.9 | Open 5th |
| Matt Dixon | 615.7 | Open 6th |
| Alun Evans | 615.5 | Open 7th |
The meeting had further Welsh involvement, being supported by the WTSF through supply and operation of the Megalink target system.
Congratulations to Alun Evans who has won a Bronze medal at the World Shooting Para Sport Grand Prix in Serbia. Competing in the Men’s 50m 3P Rifle (R7) event, Alun scored 560/600 to find his way into third place with a steady and consistent shoot.
Para Sport “Three-Position” rifle is shot entirely from a seated position. The Prone portion allows the athlete to rest both elbows on a table in a seated version of the prone position. The kneeling segment requires their triggering arm to be unsupported, whilst the standing phase sees them hold the rifle freely in their seated position. The positions all resemble a seated version of the ISSF equivalents.
Wales was present again at the NSRA National Meeting at Bisley this year with a tent and teams contesting the Home Countries matches.
The Weekend Aggregate saw Richard Hemingway place 19th in X-Class, whilst RM Davies took 12th in A-Class. Chris Nunan placed 4th in C. In the Grand Aggregate, Fred Brown won the WH Watkins Challenge Cup for Leading Welsh Competitor.
Wales contested the Home Countries International Mixed Team of 10 and Men’s Team of 5, placing third in both matches. Congratulations to Chris Nunan, Colin Pearce and Dave Parfitt who all received their first cap for Wales in the process.
| Competitor | 50M | 100Yd | aggregate | men’s team of 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R Hemingway | 193 | 189 | 382 | Y |
| F Brown | 190 | 187 | 377 | Y |
| C Nunan | 189 | 186 | 375 | Y |
| J Holmes | 190 | 183 | 373 | |
| L Webster | 188 | 183 | 371 | Y |
| E Jones | 189 | 180 | 369 | |
| C Pearce | 181 | 185 | 366 | Y |
| R Beard | 183 | 183 | 366 | |
| D Parfitt | 186 | 180 | 366 | |
| S Day | 181 | 180 | 361 | |
| Team Totals | 3706 | 1871 |
In the British Long-Range Prone Championship (the Earl Roberts), four Welsh shooters qualified to the second stage – Richard Hemingway, Fred Brown, Chris Nunan and Judith Holmes. In the second stage, Richard qualified for the Final where he placed 10th and earned the Western Mail & Echo Cup as leading Welsh competitor.
David Phelps of Llantristant and Cardiff Target Shooting Club guided Britain to a historic win on Friday as Coach to the GB Roberts Match Team.
Bringing to a close 12 months of selection trials and training camps, Dave fulfilled his final duties leading the wind coaches on Century as GB fought USA for the Earl Roberts Trophy. Britain had pride to regain, having lost at home in 2017 when the Roberts was last contested, and also losing the 2013 and 2021 editions of the reciprocal Pershing Match in the USA.
Friday 15th August was a scorching day. Starting out calm in the early morning, the wind picked up slightly to give light but unstable conditions for the 1pm match start, with temperatures touching 30C with punishing humidity. It was reassuring that the Americans also found it uncomfortable!
Starting at 50metres, American Sarah Beard set the individual pace, with an outstanding 199/200. 197 was the highest GB score from Adam Fowler, Lina Jones and Lenny Thomson, matched by Nick Mowrer and Mike Carter of the US. At the halfway mark, the score was 1937 to 1947 in favour of Britain.
At 100yards, the wind picked up and Dave’s calm recitation of conditions and incoming gusts proved it’s worth as the majority of the GB team kept above 190. Sarah Beard again had the best of it with a score of 197/200, but scores across the remainder of the US team tumbled dramatically.
By the end, GB had dropped 84 points at the longer distance, but the US had dropped 116.
The final result was a definitive GB win, with a 42 point lead being one of the largest margins in recent matches.
Great Britain – 3863 – 3821 – United States
The Roberts and Pershing matches feature teams of ten shooters, each firing twenty shots at 50metres and 100yards. The only difference between the two being that local targets are used. American targets have a larger ten-ring than the British, meaning it is not uncommon for top-flight shooters to go clean, and for ranking to be done by counting back inner-bulls. Each match takes place once every 8 years, on a 4-year offset. GB will travel to the US in 2029 to compete the Pershing Trophy once again.
Aidan Healy and Brinley Rose both shot strongly at the GB Junior International, held in Surrey prior to the NSRA National Meeting.
In the Prone, Brinley put in strong and improving scores of 561 in the Grand Prix and 564 in the Championship match.
Aidan won the 50M Mixed 3×20 with an excellent score of 565, which we believe to be a Welsh Junior Men’s Record.
