From Saturday morning at the Crabbs Rifle and Pistol Range in Antigua the battle lines would be drawn yet again at the 2023 West Indies Fullbore Shooting Council Championship but this time around, it will be the Short-Range Team Match, the most fiercely contested Team Match in the Caribbean.
The Individuals segment has been done and dusted and after three days of intense action, Guyanese Lennox Braithwaite successfully retained the ‘King of the Range’ trophy by winning the X-Class, his countryman Sigmund Douglas (USA based) won the O-Class, Jamaican Nicola Guy was the top Female, while the Tiro (Sharp Shooter) trophy was taken by Antiguan, Zuber Patel.
These shooters amongst others will surely be part of the respective country teams set to battle at the 300 yards, 500 yards, and 600 yards ranges, with two sighting shots and 10 shots to count at each range, at the end of which, the nation with the most points would be declared the champion.
Douglas’ performance has earned him a place on the Guyana team where he will join Captain Fields, reigning Individual champion Braithwaite, Sherwin Felicien, Ryan Sampson, Leo Romalho, Peter Persaud and Roberto Tiwari.
The shooters who have not made the final eight-man team would be assisting with coaching and other duties on Saturday to ensure that on and off-the-range arrangements are solidly in place.
Captain Fields briefly shared, “The focus for us is to remain calm and to execute the same way that we have trained in Guyana.”
Host nation Antigua, Jamaica and Barbados are the other Caribbean nations that are vying for the championship trophy.
Trinidad and Tobago were represented by a pair of shooters in the Individual category and would not be able to field a team. Canada is competing as a guest, which they have been doing for many years.
