Persaud qualifies for Governor General Final third year in a row

GUYANA National Rifle Association (GuyanaNRA) captain Mahendra Persaud has qualified for the Governor General Final at the 134th Canadian Fullbore Rifle Championships, a reward for being one of the top 50 marksmen of the close to 200, who are competing at the Connaught Ranges, Ottawa.Persaud, one of nine Caribbean shooters, including three Guyanese, has been the leading rifleman and will have the opportunity to shoot against the best in the world. Among them are the top 5 from the UK including David Calvert and Jon Underwood.
At the conclusion of shooting on Thursday, Persaud was 43rd overall with a Grand Aggregate total of 738v73 out of 184 competitors.
Leading was UK’s David Calvert on 752v98. The next best Caribbean shooter was Trinidad and Tobago’s Norris Gomez at 109 on 717v53 just ahead of Lennox Braithwaite was one position down on Vs, 717v48.
The lone female on the Caribbean contingent, Shellyann Hinds of Barbados was next at 115th (715v50), Thomas Greenaway of Antigua at 166th (671v27), Guyanese Sigmund Douglas based in the USA was next at 167th (670v25), Christopher Joseph of Antigua and Barbuda 171st (655v23), with the Bermudian trio of Nelson Simons of Bermuda 176th (540v21), David Dumont 178th (429v7) and Neville Trott 179th (423v13) bringing up the rear for the Caribbean of 184 competitors.
Persaud’s scores in the Letson at the 300 (35v2), 500 (35v2) and 600 (34v5) metres ranges as well as the President’s also at the 300 (50v6), 500 (50v6) and 600 (50v7) ranges ensured his qualification for the Governor General Final but only his scores from the President’s competition would be taken forward to today’s final.
Persaud, who would be going into the final with a score of 150v19 has noted that quite a few shooters would also be heading into the shoot with scores of 150.
“The competition is very tight here with quite a few of us going forward with 150, the others are only a point or two away. Now it’s 15 rounds at 800 metres and 15 at 900, so it could be anybody’s game.”
The consistent Persaud said that he is not having a bad meeting but will be taking it one shot at a time.
“I could only hope to do my best and not make any mistakes. In this competition with top shooters from Great Britain, USA, and Canada, you cannot afford any mistakes.”
With the final competition set to be contested this afternoon, Persaud said that he would be competing in a Team Match this morning and will have the opportunity to test his lenses which have been giving him some challenges, in order to be spot-on for the final with the right combination.