National shooting likely to be close

Press, 12 April 1979, Page 34

National shooting likely to be close

By

BOB SCHUMACHER

New Zealand’s four small-, bore rifle representatives at j the world championships in ] South Korea, lan. Ballinger; I Brian Lacey, Jack Scott, and] Leon Greibel, will be h igh on the list of favourites for] the national championships’ at the Burnett range,] McLeans Island, at the 1 week-end. The Canterbury 50m championship tomorrow will serve as a good preliminary for the national 50m title on Saturday and the prestigious! New Zealand 50yd and] 100 yd championship on Sun-] day. Ballinger (Christchurch) j and Lacey’ (Levin) were! New , Zealand’s representarives at this Games in Edmonton, Ballinger finishing seventh, just two points behind the bronze medallist. He .was fourth in the Christchurch Commonwealth Games shoot. Ballinger, a multiple national title winner, has been New Zealand’s best small-] bore marksman for the last; decade. He showed that hel had lost none of his ability] at the recent South Island 50yd and 100 yd champion-; ship, winning the title fro 1 John Fleming (Ashburton). Ballinger will start the 1 championship with little re-,

cent practice. He is now working to have his new rifle set correctly for the events. Although he failed to win a title last year, he scored the highest total for New Zealand in an international postal teams’ shoot. Lacey, who wan the national title on the range in! 1972, is one of the most consistent and respected marksmen in New Zealand. He was disappointing at Edmonton and will be determined to improve on that performance. Both Scott and Greibel are in form and can be relied on to score well. Scott (Timaru) won the South Island 50m championship in Timaru last month. Greibel (Blenheim) won his first New Zealand title, the national 50m event, on the range two years ago and was third in the 50yd and 100 yd championship. Two Christchurch marksmen, Rex Davies and Ray Mitchel], will be defending the championships they won last year. Davies won the national 50m title and. the grand aggregate and Mitchell was .the victor for the second time in the New Zealand 50yd and 100 yd championship. Fleming, last year’s South Island champion shared the Canterbury title with Roy

Taylor (Christchurch) and! Nan Barlow (Hutt Valley) on the range two years ago. He was a 1978 Games trialist and his placing behind Ballinger recently suggests that he has his sights accurately set. . Bob Travers (Wanganui), who broke through for his first national title two years ago after a series of consistent placings, his teammate, Lawrence Moodie, wha has shot well on the range in previous visits, Lindsay Arthur (Hutt Valley), Ivan Newton (Wellington), and Bill Sterritt (Christchurch) are other capable smallbore shooters.