Ryan Cockbill has won three medals in three days at the WSPS (World Shooting Para Sport) Grand Prix in Novi Sad, Serbia.
In the Mixed 10m Air Rifle Standing SH2 (R4) on Thursday, he qualified second in a competitive field, and maintained his composure to hold his place in the final. No sooner had he finished the R4 final and he was called to the line for Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH2 (R5). Qualifying second again – close behind the Italian who had also led R4 qualifying, Ryan finished third to collect a Bronze medal.
After a day off, he came back to the 50metre range on Saturday for the Mixed 50m Rifle Prone SH2 (R9), qualifying second again behind Austrian Josef Pacher. After his first string of 5 shots he was joint second, but after the second string had taken a 0.5 point lead, which he held for the remainder of the final, finishing on 248.7 – a full 2.2 points ahead of silver medallist Gianluca Iacus of Italy.
Rugeley Club Chairman Martyn Buttery saw history being made on Friday 15th August as official Team Witness for the victorious British team in the historic Roberts match. On a sweltering Century range where temperatures exceeded 28 degrees, teams from GB and the USA shot for the Roberts Trophy, contested once every 8 years.
Britain had pride to regain, having lost the previous Roberts Match in 2017, and also losing away during the reciprocal matches for the Pershing Trophy in 2022 (delayed from 2021) and 2013, hosted in the United States.
The United States brought score potential, with Sarah Beard dominating proceedings. Having already won the X-Class Aggregate during the week, Sarah shot an exceptional 396 across both distances, setting herself well ahead of GB’s top scorer Adam Fowler on 391. GB made up in depth though. Where the USA’s scores dipped rapidly through the 380s into the 370s, GB held steady to finished with a score of 3863 against USA’s 3821.
The Roberts and Pershing Matches are considered somewhat the Ryder Cup of shooting in their pagentry and alternating host continents. Canada also contests the Pershing Trophy. The next match will be 2029. Both Roberts and Pershing matches are a single dewar – twenty shots each at 50m/yd and 100yd – between teams of ten. As a team match, wind coaches are permitted. The only difference between Roberts and Pershing is the use of British vs American targets. The latter have a larger bull meaning it is common for top shooters to drop no points and be tie-broken on inner-tens.
Martyn supervises proceedingsClub Captain Richard is roped in on photography dutiesGB Roberts Team 2025 Photo: Eleanor Shorey https://www.nsratheshorey.com/
Alex Buttery and Izzy Ward both earned spots as reserves for the main mixed Drew team of 10, earning GB colours. Alex was also selected as a reserve for the men’s team of 3. Both earn their GB Colours.
Two selections is growth from 2024 when Helen Robinson was selected as reserve to the Women’s team of 3. They will shoot their cards later in the year, after which scores will be shared with the US, Australian and New Zealand teams.
Congratulations to Rugeley’s Competition Secretary Dave Glover, who has been appointed Adjutant to the GB Wakefield Match Team. The two year appointment will run for the 2025 and 2026 years, and normally leads to a two year appointment as Captain.
The Lord Wakefield Monument Trophy Match is an international postal match held in September, originally between Great Britain and Sweden. In 1985 Sweden was unable to raise a team and the match went in abeyance until 1991 when it resumed with a new field of competitors including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA. The course of fire is an “English Match” – 60 shots at 50metres on NSRA/ISSF targets, using integer scoring. Competitors shoot on their home ranges, under supervision of a qualified witness.
Five of the ten team members are selected based on performance at the NSRA National Meeting at Bisley, with the other 5 taken from the top individuals in NSRA Comp 103 and 303 (10-metre postal leagues).
Congratulations to Rugeley Rifle Club Chairman Martyn Buttery, who has been appointed Adjutant for the GB Dewar Team in 2025 and 2026. The Adjutant is an assistant to the Team Captain, and typically takes on the Captaincy following their term as Adjutant.
Rugeley Rifle Club member Richard Hemingway was selected to shoot for Great Britain on Saturday after an outstanding performance in the Dewar Match Trials held at Appleton Rifle Club.
Scoring 789/800, he finished top of his squad to qualify for the team. The top five from each of four squads made up the team of twenty. This was Richard’s second GB cap after also making the team in 2018. Richard qualified for the Trials in 2023 but narrowly missed selection, finishing seventh in his squad.
The Dewar Match is an International Postal against the United States, with South Africa and Australia also entering in some years. Following the Trials, the team shot their cards – the scores of which are embargoed until the other teams have shot their end of the match.
In the match itself, Richard placed mid-table with the tenth highest score.
Friend of the club Liam Webster also qualified for the trials, but missed selection from his squad after a difficult shoot at 100yards.
Rugeley member Rich Hemingway had a sterling weekend at Bisley, shooting for Wales and qualifying for the Final of the British Prone Championship (the “Earl Roberts Championship”) at the close of the NSRA’s 2023 National Meeting.
On Friday, Rich warmed up by comfortably making it through the First Stage of the Earl Roberts, placing 9th of the 50 who qualified. That afternoon he went on to shoot in the Home Countries International, competing for Wales against England and Scotland. Wales narrowly placed third, close behind Scotland. Rich had the second highest score in the Welsh team, just a point behind Sian Corish – who was awarded the “Tartan Dragon” trophy for highest Welsh scorer.
Rich Hemingway with the 2023 Welsh Home Countries Team photo credit: Eleanor Shorey theshorey.co.uk
On Saturday morning, competitors took to the range for another early start to contest the Second Stage of the Roberts, from which 40 qualified to the final. Placing 27th, Richard entered his first Roberts Final, making him the first Rugeley or Staffordshire shooter to compete in the final for some years.
Shooting a Double Dewar course – 40 shots each at 50metres and 100yards – the wind picked up significantly, as is appropriate for championship finals! In gusty conditions, many competitors struggled to keep their scores above 190, with a smattering of big flyers (including 4s and 6s!) seen along the range, especially on the 100yard portion. Keeping their cool amongst all of them though was 2022 champion Lina Jones, who retained her title with a score of 772. Rich finished his debut Final with 756, placing him 20th.
Rugeley enjoyed international success, with three members representing Home Nation teams at the Bisley 100 Meeting.
On Friday, Club Chairman Martyn Buttery captained England – an historic double after he also captained the team at Scotland 100 in 2019.
Rich Hemingway and Ryan Williams were both selected to represent Wales. They were joined by friend-of-the-club Liam Webster who earned his first Welsh cap. Liam shot at Rugeley for many years before moving to west Wales some years ago.
England ultimately won the match, scoring 3799/4000.
The Isle of Man Easter Shooting Festival is now in it’s 57th year. Featuring rifle, airgun and cartridge pistol events, it’s status as a GB selection match draws many shooters of national repute hunting for qualification scores, alongside the local shooters and those competing in classes.
There’s a range in there somewhere.
Although the timing of the festival varies between mid-March and mid-April, the cold years have rarely gone so far as to offer snow. It was with regret then that the organising committee cancelled the Cartridge Pistol events when the 25 metre and 50 metre Pistol Ranges at Slieau Lhost (on the A18 Mountain Road across the valley from Snaefell) were buried under several thousand cubic metres of the white stuff – the first time an entire block of events has been cancelled in the history of the competition.
But then what can one expect when your range is at 1300ft ASL? Fortunately, the (by comparison) tropical rifle range is 1000ft lower, and as such was bitterly cold, but not buried. Safe too were the Air Rifle and Air Pistol shooters in a snug indoor temporary range hosted at Onchan Community Centre.
So it was with bags full of thermals that Rich and Simon boarded the Ben-My-Chree at Heysham bound for Douglas on Thursday 28th March. With a sheaf of paperwork in hand, they were whisked through security and made it onto the island with rifles and ammunition intact. For Rich the trip was almost routine, this being his 5th visit to the island. Simon was embarking on his very first Open Competition.
Friday morning brought the chance for an open training session, with people not only familiarising themselves with the range but working out what clothing combinations worked best for keeping warm on the firing point!
With training done, and the shooters prepared (or as prepared as we were going to get), the afternoons were left free for exploring the island. The event is run so training and competitions tend to be in the morning, leaving the afternoon for sightseeing. The famous mountain road was closed, but we went as far as the snow barriers, getting to the legendary Creg Ny Baa pub, and tooling down the back road, which afforded a fabulous view south back towards Douglas.
Saturday afternoon was spent exploring the West-Coast town of Peel, with Sunday covering the South of the island, as far as the Calf of Man and Langness.
But enough of the sightseeing, how was the competition?
Saturday dawned (as every day did) sunny with a biting cold wind. Sheltered in the valley floor, the early shooters were treated to gentle but inconsistent winds, with Rich slotting in a 584, placing him 12th overall and a credible 7th in A-Class – his first competition since being promoted from B-Class last year. Having drawn the second detail, Si faced stiffer winds, placing 64th overall, and 16th in class, putting in a solid shoot for his first Open Competition and substantially bolstering his outdoor shooting experience. Although not earning any medals for their Day 1 efforts, Rich did place second in the light-hearted Blind Pairs competition (where competitors are randomly drawn with another shooter and their individual scores combined), having been fortuitously matched with Manx shooting legend and Commonwealth Medallist Harry Creevy. The Easter egg prizes went down very well!
Day 2 dawned with the wind coming around ever so slightly, blowing into the firing point and giving the shooters a harder time than on Saturday. After a 99 first string, Rich struggled with the cold, shooting a poor middle section that ended on 574, sliding down the rankings to 41st overall and 21st in class. Simon actually managed to improve his score – unfortunately it wasn’t enough to stop him slipping to 65th overall, although he held at 16th in class.
The Easter shoot is billed as competition and holiday rolled into one, and it certainly delivers. With the picturesque island to explore, the chance of doing some pistol shooting, and an ISSF-rules competition that the organisers have succeeded in keeping fun whilst also providing a serious shoot for those seeking qualification scores, we’d heartily recommend it, and hope to have a few more club members join us next year (April 17th-21st. One would hope no chance of snow!). More photos are available here.
