Fittleworth shooting stars in the Sussex honours

The Sussex County Smallbore Rifle Association held its annual long-range championship where marksmen and women of different ages and classes competed for trophies and the right to represent Sussex at Bisley in August.
By The Newsroom
Published 5th Jul 2015, 16:00 BST

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Rob Dowling receives his prizeRob Dowling receives his prize
Rob Dowling receives his prize

The opening competition involved club teams of six competing for the right to represent the county in the astor competition where they will take on clubs from other parts of the country, each member shooting 20 shots at 50m and 20 shots at 100 yards. East Grinstead won, ahead of runners-up Chichester and third-placed Cuckfield.

The main event was the aggregate consisting of 40 shots at 50m and 40 at 100 yards. Competitors were divided into classes A, B, C and D depending on their average and prizes were awarded in each class.

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In D class, Charles White of East Grinstead won the Powell Trophy with a score of 726 out of 800. In C class Liz Twyford of Croydon, with 753, won the Bowles Challenge Trophy.

B classsaw Matthew Button of Ringmer win the Sir Duncan Watson Trophy with an excellent score of 77. In A class, the competition for the Eager Cup was closely fought with Rob Dowling of Fittleworth narrowly beating club-mate Russell French 787-785.

The aggregate provides the basis for several other competitions and, with Fittleworth members taking the top three places in the A class aggregate, it was no surprise they won the team-of-three competition with a score of 2,354.

The Fittleworth pair of Rob Dowling and Peter Terry also won the open-class club pairs with 1,569.

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East Grinstead pairs finished in the top two positions of the C and D-class pairs with Graham Rowcroft and Sheena Wilde (1,491) beating club-mates Elaine Kettle and Sam Kettle (1,455).

Fittleworth members also won the veterans (Peter Terry) and the ladies (Nicky Smith) while Sam Kettle of East Grinstead won the juniors’ competition. The competition classic rifles was won by Richard Woolgar of Southwick Rifle Club.

The annual sharpshooters competition, shooting at 50mm diameter clays at 100 yards in teams of three, had East Grinstead showing the others a clean pair of heels. The end result was a handsome win for Trevor and Steve Wilde and Chris Philips.

The final competitions of the day saw the top eight marksmen in classes C and D competing for the Eastbourne Nalgo Trophy and the top eight in A and B competing for the Sutton Gold Cup.

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The Nalgo Trophy and the gold medal was won by Liz Twyford (Croydon) with 380 while the Sutton Gold Cup and the county championship was won by Peter Terry (Fittleworth) on 391 with club-mate Rob Dowling second on 388.

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Related topics:Sussex