This year the Great Britain Junior Rifle Squad entered ten of the squad in Intershoot 2014. Jack, Dean and Emily went to Intershoot for the first time. They said that they thoroughly enjoyed it.
Philippa went as part of the England Small-bore Shooting Union (ESSU). Philippa was the first to compete on the first day with her first match at 8am. Philippa shot well as she has made such a major change to her shooting, changing from left handed to right handed.
Emily was next to compete in Intershoot in the Junior Female Rifle match, Emily shot a score of 402.2 which made her tenth narrowly missing the final by 0.4. Jack and Dean were next up in the Junior Men Rifle Match. Dean shot a score of 595.4 placing him in sixteenth place, this was below his average. Jack also shooting in the same detail shot 612.5 placing him in fourth place in the match, giving him a place in the final.
Jack took his place in the final along with the other seven finalists one of which was a fellow team mate Finn. Jack made fifth place before being eliminated.
On the second day of the competition (Friday) it was Emily’s turn for an early start. The Junior Female Rifle match started at 8am. Emily finished in twelfth position with a score of 399.9.
Next it was the turn of Jack and Dean in the second Junior Men Rifle competition. Dean shot 595.4 again but it placed him thirteenth this time. Jack was slightly down on his previous match the day before shooting 609.3 placing him seventh. The main thing is that it placed him in another final. As the scores are now reset in the Olympic Finals the main objective is that you get into the top eight of the qualifying match.
With parents watching on the live feed of results at home, Jack took his place in the final once again as the only British Junior athlete in the final. All his team and the manager watched on. Jack had a really strong start putting him in first place and after the eight shot he had a 3.4 point lead. Jack at this point had a higher score than any athlete shooting in the junior or senior final that was running concurrently, this included two former gold medal Olympians. Then Jack put us all on edge as he shot 8.2 cutting his lead in half. With everyone looking on, Jack held it together and finished first with the gold medal and a score of 203.1. This was the best win for GB Juniors abroad for many years. Well done Jack!
Jack was in a team with fellow team mates Finn and Jack R and they also took gold in the team medals. Well done to them all.
In the afternoon Philippa shot her second competition which went well, she improved on the previous day scoring 339 placing her fourteenth.
On to the last day of the competition (Saturday) there are only individuals and no team events. Philippa was on first again in her third and final match of the competition. Again she had a good result of 326. When she returns home she can train further on improving her scores shooting right handed, having competed well in a large international match.
Emily was next on for her third and final qualifying match which went very well. She shot a score of 405.2 placing her in seventh and in the Junior Female Final. The finals were held in the afternoon.
First it would be Emily in the Junior Female Rifle Final to take her position. She shot well and remained in to finish seventh.
Jack and Dean then shot their last qualifying match of the competition which went well. Dean scored 594.9 placing him in sixteenth. Jack scored 611.7 putting him in sixth place and in the Junior Men’s Olympic Final again. He joined his team mate Finn in the final which would be the last event of Intershoot 2014.
Jack then took his position at the firing point for his third and last Olympic Final of the competition. Jack made it into all of the junior men finals of Intershoot 2014 and this time finished with a bronze medal missing silver by 0.1. So the medal tally he bought home was three medals two gold and one bronze.
Once they have completed a packed year of competitions they will be back to see Intershoot 2015 February next year.
The Great Britain Junior Rifle Team had a good competition and brought home a good number of medals. It was well deserved with all the hard work put in by the athletes and the coaches, you should all be very proud.
Well done to all that took part in Intershoot 2014, especially to the members of the Great Britain Junior Rifle Team and all of the England Small-Bore Shooting Union (ESSU) athletes.
