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clubs and societies
CLUBS & SOCIETIES
The Uppingham Veterans Rifle Club
Simon and Jeannie Pattinson at the Simon Pattinson Range.
2013 has been another very busy year for members of the Club. Our first event kicked off the season in March with a match in the School mini-range. The match followed the official naming of the “Simon Pattinson Range” in the presence of Simon (WB 52) and his wife Jeannie. The School put in a good performance but was beaten by the OUs (noting that the OU team was packed with internationals and two Commonwealth Games medallists!). OUs and members of The School then enjoyed a dinner in the Sports Centre hospitality suite. A month later, James Watson (L 88) led an England team to compete in South Africa. The team of twenty-one contained four other OUs: Emma Cannings (L 95), Alex Williams (Fgh 92), Ant Ringer (B 79) and Chris Belk (WB 51). England was narrowly beaten into second place by South Africa, a mere two points (out of 1800) ahead, with the USA trailing England by a single point – one of the closest international matches in history.
Emma Cannings (L 95) with Simon Belither (L 71).
As this team returned, a GB team headed out to the West Indies with members including Jonathan Hull (F 74), Gaz Morris (LH 89) and Chris Watson (M 92) – John Webster (C 70) had been selected but was unable to travel. The team won the Australia Match by a significant margin with Chris Watson top scoring. Back in the UK we were treated to a very warm and dry two weeks in July during the British Open Championships. Starting with the Veterans Match where teams of five old boys compete against other schools, Simon Pattinson scored a perfect 50 (for
Chris Belk, Ant Ringer, Emma Cannings, James Watson and Alex Williams on tour in South Africa. the third time in four years) upstaging all as the selectors had put him in the C team; the A team finished in third place. As usual, OUs featured in many prize lists but the highlights being Gaz Morris’s 5th place in the Grand Aggregate and Emma Cannings who top scored in the final to finish in 5th place in HM the Queen’s Prize (second and final stage scores added together). Gaz also managed our top performance in the other final – the St George’s in 9th position. In the team matches, Chris Watson and Gaz Morris’ represented Wales in the National and the Mackinnon matches. James Watson shot for the winning England team in the National and was the Adjutant for the England Mackinnon Team under the captaincy of John Webster with Ant Ringer as one of the shooters. The Kolapore match is an international match of eight firers - the victorious Great Britain team included James Watson and Gaz Morris who scored the only two perfect scores in the team. With the season now winding down, the trials for the Commonwealth Games are concluding (again OUs are very likely to feature in the selected Home Nation pairs) and the trials for the next World Championships (in 2015) are commencing. The club is planning a match and dinner on 22nd March 2014 at Uppingham; look out for details soon.
