The 2024 European Championships Midweek Individual matches. Part 1 of the Trilogy
Tuesday
Match 1 800yds
The week began with a beautifully bright, warm day and only gentle winds to contend with; a near perfect start for everyone to get established, to build confidence and settle the old nerves. The overseas shooters set the pace and showed they really knew how to shoot well; in F Open and in FTR just one of the top ten was from the UK. Karol Henger from Poland particularly distinguished himself by equalling the range record of 75.15 in doing so, he joins a rather select club of 4. The Italian contingent took a remarkable 5 of the top 10 spaces in both F Open and FTR, those guys have really tuned their rifles to perfection! The Irish contingent were also well represented with Terry and Andrew taking 1st & 2nd in FTR.
| Karol Henger | 75.15 | Terry McQuaid | 75.12 |
| Gianluca Majer | 75.13 | Andrew Charleton | 75.11 |
| Armando Barra | 75.12 | Emanuela Visentin | 75.10 |
You had to scroll down to 23rd place in F Open and 39th in FTR to see who had dropped a point! Spare a thought then for Roger Mayhall and Ahsan Gulrez respectively who both scored 74.13
Match 2 800yds
By mid-morning conditions had not really changed, it was still perfect shooting weather and a great gentle introduction to Bisley for many of our overseas shooters who were visiting for the first time. They may have been new to Bisley, but clearly, they were not novice shooters, judging by the high standard of shooting they established. It was yet another Polish shooter who prevailed in F Open; Jerry Rozlucki, while Edward Shelley of the USA took the honours in FTR. All six podium finishers were overseas shooters, while there were slightly more Brits in the top ten; two each in F Open & FTR.
| Jerry Rozlucki | 75.12 | Edward Shelley | 75.13 |
| Scott McLay | 75.11 | Erik Scaglia | 75.12 |
| Pontiggia Ambroglio | 75.11 | Gordon Holloway | 75.12 |
In a similar fashion to Match 1, the scores were so high that 75s were scored all the way down to 28th place in F Open and 32nd in FTR. Spare a thought for the guys scoring 74.11.
These high-scoring matches made a lot of work for our stats team as they conducted countbacks to split the scores and allocate final positions accurately and fairly.
Match 3 900yds
On any other typical day, after lunch as the temperature increased the wind would pick up, but not it seems on this particular day, it remained mild, a trigger pullers dream. If nothing else, it was at least giving everyone a very good opportunity to confirm their wind zero.
Roger Mayhall put in a remarkable 100.8 to take the F Open gold, it was the only ‘possible’ score of the day, while Jerry Rozlucki took a bronze to add to his earlier gold. On the FTR side, Keith Trapp racked up a tremendous 98.3 – such a high score it exceeded all bar the top three F Open shooters, what an achievement! Brits were still not plentiful in the top 10, with Mik Maksimovic the only one in F Open, it was good to see Mik back on form. In FTR, there were three; Chris Cairns in second, Mike Harris and Adam Williams – or should I say William Adams as that’s what it says on his team shirt!
| Roger Mayhall | 100.8 | Keith Trapp | 98.8 |
| Shawn Ellis | 98.10 | Chris Cairns | 96.3 |
| Jerry Rozlucki | 98.8 | Anthony Jordan | 95.7 |
The scores from Tuesday established a marker against which everyone could measure themselves, it was daunting, to remain in contention one could drop a point or two, but not very many more. Every year we see this trend continuing towards ever-higher standards of shooting and I often wonder where it will end.
Tuesday Aggregate
In F Open the Tuesday aggregate final positions were a mirror image of the Match 3 podium winners and in FTR it was again the same winners albeit in a slightly different order; those guys are really at the top of their game. Mik was the sole Brit in the top 10 F Open, while in FTR we had the consolation of three Brits in the top 10.
| Roger Mayhall | 247.27 | Keith Trapp | 246.28 |
| Shawn Ellis | 247.24 | Anthony Jordan | 244.23 |
| Jerry Rozlucki | 246.28 | Chris Cairns | 244.19 |
Wednesday
Match 4 900yds
Another good day, a bit cold perhaps to begin with, but that’s nothing unusual as we’ve just had the coldest spring and summer I can recall – despite all the blether about ‘global warming’, the winds were in our favour again, though just a little more active than Tuesday but presented no problem at all to the calibre of shooters we had on the firing line, shooters like Shiraz Balolia for example, the former US Captain who racked up a superb 75.13 to take the gold medal in F Open, while in FTR we had a three-way tie all on a super score of 75.11 our home grown giant, Quintin Lyle prevailed in the countback, taking the gold medal back to Scotland.
F Open had been on first detail and enjoyed the calmest wind, it was reflected in the scores; the top 30 all scored 75, while in FTR by the time they got onto the firing point, the wind had just got up a little more, but it made its impact as ‘only’ the top 15 kept them all in.
| Shiraz Balolia | 75.13 | Quintin Lyle | 75.11 |
| Pontiggia Ambrogio | 75.12 | Monsoor Ahmad | 75.11 |
| Walter Gravano | 75.12 | David Lloyd | 75.11 |
Match 5 900yds
By mid-morning things started to change; darker ominous skies with heavy clouds moved in, pushed on by brisk, freshening winds. This was more akin to the usual pattern we see at Bisley. This would be more of a wind-reading contest which is want is wanted at a major tournament; we need to challenge all abilities. The change in conditions was clearly exhibited in the depressed scores; out of over 200 shooters, just three managed to score a 75! Karol Henger won yet another gold medal in F Open, this guy from Poland sure knows how to shoot! And in FTR the only 75 scored was by Christopher Faloon from the USA, what an outstanding achievement in such difficult conditions. I reckon it is fair to say that the Match 5 conditions were probably more typical of the sort of winds we would normally expect to see. Given that, I would have anticipated seeing more Brits in the upper reaches of the prize list, yet there were only 2 in the top ten, not an auspicious start.
| Karol Henger | 75.8 | Christopher Faloon | 75.8 |
| Steffen Schmitz | 75.4 | Jan Cilliers | 73.7 |
| Camillo Garbin | 74.9 | Mike Francis | 73.6 |
Match 6 1,000yds
By late morning, the temperature was rising and the wind was becoming not only stronger, but more unstable too, switching directions and ebbing and flowing. This was becoming a proper test of good wind-reading skills. There was a small element of luck involved depending on which detail you were in, but that’s unavoidable and doesn’t detract from the skill required to keep them all in the middle. There was still a paucity of locals in the upper ranks, which was odd as the conditions were typical and should have presented no surprises to those who shoot at Bisley on a regular basis. Three overseas shooters scored 98 which is simply astonishing in such variable conditions, all the more so as these guys only visit infrequently, it is the sign of a good shooter who can quickly get to grips with tricky conditions on an unfamiliar range, so all credit to Jan Swanepoel and Adam MacDonald.
| Jan Swanepoel | 98.11 | Adam MacDonald | 98.7 |
| Pontiggia Ambrogio | 98.10 | Niklas Montin | 97.7 |
| Domenico Squaratti | 95.9 | Junaid Ali | 96.4 |
Wednesday Aggregate
It is fair to say that if Tuesday had been a gentle introduction that suited the trigger pullers, then Wednesday was more typical and more to the liking of the wind readers, having said that, 4 out of the top 10 F Open and 2 of the top 10 FTRs were represented in both the Tuesday and Wednesday aggregates, proving that those guys simply have it all. The day belonged to Pontiggia Ambrogio and Adam MacDonald with only a 2-point difference between them.
| Pontiggia Ambrogio | 247.30 | Adam MacDonald | 245.20 |
| Jan Swanepoel | 244.24 | Jan Cilliers | 241.14 |
| Shiraz Balolia | 244,23 | Ewen Campbell | 239.19 |
Thursday
Match 7 800yds
What a difference a day makes, on Wednesday some folk had been mentioning that the forecast didn’t look very promising, they were right; Thursday turned out to be more like the seasonal average that we’ve enjoyed or rather endured this year; it was misty, cold and wet, at times very wet indeed. I took one look at it and decided there and then I’d not be shooting, who needs it? So, I donned a blue vest and did Wing Officer duties all morning instead, so to avoid getting my rifle and kit soaked – I got soaked to the skin instead, ah well it seemed a good idea at the time. Others were braver than me and if you’d travelled halfway round the World and spent a fortune getting to Bisley, you’d want your money’s worth.
Although it was cold wet and misty, the wind was mercifully kind and gentle to us, resulting in some pretty high scores, the top 38 in F Open scored 75s while the same applied to the top 36 in FTR. Scott McLay of Australia and Karol Henger tied on 75.12 in F Open, while Robert Garibay of USA and Fabrizio De Luca of Italy tied on 75.13 – one V-bull more in FTR, what superb shooting, it isn’t often that FTR outshoot their F Open colleagues. There was a remarkable seven-way split for 3rd place, with Paul Hill clinching it in a countback.
| Scott McLay | 75.12 | Robert Garibay | 75.13 |
| Karol Henger | 75.12 | Fabrizio De Luca | 75.13 |
| Paul Hill | 75.11 | Keith Trapp | 75.12 |
Match 8 900yds
Time is always of the essence when it involves a change of distance and our Chief Range Officer, Mick Williams was always very anxious that no time was wasted in falling back, hence his frequent calls to everyone to clear the point quickly, taking scorecards etc to be settled and exchanged off the point. The whole match can be held to ransom by a solitary slowcoach, but with the assistance of the Range Officers, all the stragglers were rounded up and herded off the range in good time, much to Mick’s relief, phew…
There was no relief from the rain though, it persisted right up until the penultimate detail of Match 8 and there was no sign of the wind abating at all, it proved to be very challenging for the shooters, in fact only 2 out of 200 competitors managed to score a 75, one of which was that man from Poland again, Karol Henger, he was having a superb European Championships, adding another gold medal, closely followed by Steffen Schmitz, the same situation this pair occupied in Match 5 also at 900yds, what a remarkable coincidence, perhaps they are 900yd specialists! In FTR, Simon Gambling flew the flag for GB with a 74.8 over Luigi Bilfulco on a countback.
| Karol Henger | 75.10 | Simon Gambling | 74.8 |
| Steffen Schmitz | 75.7 | Luigi Bilfulco | 74.8 |
| John Howe | 74.9 | Andrea Caprioglio | 74.7 |
Wednesday Aggregate
The morning had been a good test of everyone’s wet weather routines, the rain had been pretty much non stop right up until the final F Open detail when the sun came out, by then though everyone was soaked and I felt sorry for so many competitors who got all their kit drenched before the main event the next day and just before the team shoots that afternoon. As it happens, the morning rain was as nothing compared to what followed in the teams’ match – more on that in my 2nd part of this trilogy. The shooters who prevailed throughout the morning’s rain can be rightly proud of having endured rotten conditions and still performed to a high level.
By some extraordinary coincidence the two top shooters in FTR shared exactly the same scores in both matches; Simon Gambling and Luigi Bilfulco had matched each other twice, how remarkable! what are the odds against that? Not only that, but two other shooters achieved the same aggregate score of 149.16 Andrea Caprioglio and Adam MacDonald. I bet that caused some extra work in the Stats department, figuring out the countbacks!
In F Open, it was that familiar pairing again of Karol Henger and Steffen Schmitz who dominated the day, by not dropping any points at all, they were the only pair to achieve that distinction! Paul Sandie took bronze, coming from Scotland perhaps he is used to shooting in the rain!
| Karol Henger | 150.22 | Simon Gambling | 149.16 |
| Steffen Schmitz | 150.13 | Luigi Bilfulco | 149.16 |
| Paul Sandie | 149.17 | Andrea Caprioglio | 149.16 |
Given the conditions, you might’ve expected to see more Brits on the podium, as it was, just 6 out of the top 20 combined were from the UK. I suspect that many of our visitors from hot countries overseas are no strangers to adverse weather or at the very least, have been practicing and perfecting their wet weather routines.
That concluded the Tournament’s Midweek Individual matches. If there was a “man of the match” award it would surely be won by Karol Henger of Poland who earned 5 medals in three days, what an amazing achievement.