In the sport of fullbore shooting even a flawless day can see you down the grid and this is exactly the scenario with Guyanese Lennox Braithwaite, who did not drop a single point on day one of the Commonwealth Games Queen’s Prize Individual Finals in Gold Coast, Australia.
The leading Caribbean marksman shot possibles at the 300, 500 and 600 yards ranges 35:2, 35:5, 35:3 for a total of 105:10 and even with such a performance ended the day in eighth place as seven other shooters also fired possibles at each of the ranges, but had more Vs.
Ronsford Goodluck, Braithwaite’s partner in the Pairs competition where Guyana ended 11th of the 16 competing nations and the top Caribbean country, dropped four points and will go into tomorrow’s second day in 25th place.
At the three ranges, Goodluck posted scores of 33:4, 34:0, 34:2 for a total of 101:6. In the top spot is Australia’s Jim Bailey (105:15) followed by New Zealand’s John Snowden (105:14) and Brian Carter (105:14) in 2nd and 3rd, David Luckman of England (105:13), Ben Emms of Australia (105:13), Jersey’s Barry Le Cheminant (105:12) and Parag Patel of England (105:12), just ahead of Braithwaite.
Young Barbadian shooter Jason Wood is 23rd (102:4) two spots ahead of Goodluck. Jamaican Denis Nelson is 26th (99:6), Delborn Joseph of Trinidad and Tobago is next (98:7), Barbadian Richard Arthur (96:1) in 28th, Jamaican David Rickman (95:2) 30th, T&T’s Michael Perez (94:5) 31st with the Antigua and Barbuda duo of Desroy Maile (92:3) and Edworth Benjamin (85:4) in the 32nd and 33rd positions.
Braithwaite would be aiming to replicate his performance tomorrow, while Goodluck will seek to emulate his countryman when they aim from the same 300, 500 and 600 yards ranges.
On Saturday’s final day, the shooters will fire at the 900 and 1,000 yard ranges.
