THE EAST MIDLANDS ABT REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

64 shooters from across the region descended upon Nottingham & District Gun Club to do battle in the East Midlands ABT Championships this weekend in beautiful spring weather.

Connor Harris a junior shooter from Leicestershire and possibly best known for his achievements in Down the Line surprised everyone by taking the title with a superb score of 97, even more remarkable was Connor was shooting out of C Class. He kicked off his days shooting with the perfect start clearing all 25 targets with no problem and he barely let loose his grip on the title all day, and a final run in of 23, 25 and a 24 to finish gave him a one-shot victory over Runner Up Simon Owen from Norfolk also shooting out of C Class.

Connor’s victory was also good enough to give him the Junior title claiming a rare double in this event.  Matt Sheldrake from Cambridgeshire claimed the third spot but not before he had to overcome a shoot off to secure his medal.

In Veterans Robert Flowers and Richard Gilbert drove all the way from Norfolk and ended up in a shoot off to take the honours, locked on 92/100 it took a further round to separate them with Robert coming out on top and Richard having to settle for the silver medal. John Winn from Lincolnshire himself no stranger to success in this event also had to overcome a shoot off after scoring 89 in the main competition and then a round of 22/25 to claim the bronze.

Rachel Parish from Notts was pushed all the way in Ladies by Elena Taylor from Lincolnshire, the duo were locked together after three rounds, Rachel securing victory with a one target advantage in the final round, Hazel Whiten from Cambridgeshire completed the 1-2-3 by taking the bronze medal on 79.

In juniors with Connor Harris taking the title, it was William Gilbert from Norfolk who claimed the silver medal on 89, with Ollie Sampson from Notts in third place and the bronze medal on 85.

Many thanks to team Nottingham for a great days shooting.

PRIZE MONEY

A Joint 1^st – A Cooke, M Sheldrake.

B Joint 1^st – R Denoon, J Matthewson, P Osborne

C 1^st – C Harris

C 2^nd – S Owen

D 1^st – R Suttersby

D Joint 2^nd – C Barnard, O Sampson, E Taylor, S Taylor