Team Barbados kept their eyes on the target to become victorious in the West Indies Fullbore Shooting Council’s short range competition despite their pre-competition challenges.
Just a few weeks ago, Barbados pulled off a historic win on home soil, which was well embraced after experiencing a 50-year dry period.
However, captain Jason Wood told NATIONSPORT the team experienced a couple of challenges leading up to the competition, but he was pleased with their ability to overcome them.
“We have been practising since we came back from Guyana last year where we went for the West Indies Championships held there in October, but when we came back we had a challenge since we had no ammunition. We had to shoot a different style of rifle shooting called small bore shooting, which uses a .22 rifle that shot over a distance of only 50 metres,” he said.
“It kept us in training where we practised our side alignment, breathing, trigger control, and so on, and only a month before out championship we then got ammunition that we could use. So we then practised as much as we could on Saturdays and Sundays to prepare for the individual and the team competition. Preparation was not very long but practising our rifle shooting kept us sharp.” he said.
Last-minute change
They also had to make a change to the team at the last minute but it proved to work in their favour.
“It was a good call and it worked out in our favour on the short range day because the person I brought back in is normally stronger at those ranges.
“The Barbados rifle shooters’ remarkable performance in the WIFBSC, both as individuals and as long and short range teams, has been inspiring and will motivate them to continue to improve and grow within the sport.”
Although those challenges would have surfaced, the team’s strategy was to focus on the job at hand.
“We shot the long range first and at the end of that day one of the shooters had to be changed because he was experiencing some challenges. It was to think positive, we were just making sure our team members stayed focused and did their best so we could achieve”.
Marlon King was named the top short range shooter and the winner of the Wogart Cup, which was last won by a Barbadian in 1978.
The event, which was staged across one week, showcased the skills of more than 50 shooters who included competitors from Barbuda, Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Canada.
Following the competition a team was selected to represent the West Indies in August in Ottawa, Canada of which Barbados was a part. (RG)
