LOCAL marksmen have stepped up their preparations ahead of the West Indies Full Bore Short Range Championships set for Antigua from May 16 to 22.The locals have been practising at the Timehri Rifle Ranges since the beginning of the month and, according to Guyana National Rifle Association’s (GNRA) team captain Mahendra Persaud, preparations have been going well and he is confident the locals will make a successful defence of the title they won in Jamaica in 2014.
According to former West Indies Full Bore individual champion Ransford Goodluck, there was no competition last year since Guyana had fielded a team to the World Championships in Ohio, USA.
Last Saturday, the locals were divided into two teams – Team Lion and Team Jaguar – and Team Lion came out on top by a single point shooting over the 300-, 500- and 600-yard ranges in a fiercely contested shoot.
Team Jaguar had defeated Team Lion one week prior by three points (399.26 to 396.21).
The only possible scores on Sunday were made by reigning Caribbean and Guyana individual champion Lennox Braithwaite and Goodluck of Team Jaguar and Team Lion respectively at the 500-yard range.
Goodluck missed the cut at the 300-yard range by a single point, with Leo Ramalho (500 and 600), Ryan Sampson (500), Full Bore captain Persaud and vice-captain Dylan Fields, both at the 500 and 600-yard ranges, missed a possible by a single point.
The 2016 championships will be contested by teams drawn from Jamaica, Barbados, Antigua & Barbuda, Trinidad &Tobago and Guyana.