Great Britain’s 10m shooters performed decently at the World Championships (Rifle and Pistol) in Cairo, Egypt, but didn’t make any progress in Olympic qualification. The top four athletes qualified, with the caveat that only one athlete per event could qualify from the same country.
Starting with the Men’s 10m Air Rifle, Dean Bale and Michael Bamsey stepped up for GB. In qualification, there would be six series of ten shots each, and the top eight would progress. Bale was the best Brit in 75th with 621.8 points, ahead of Bamsey in 94th with 617.3. In the Men’s 10m Air Pistol, James Andrew John Miller and Kristian Michael Smeeton Callaghan wore British colours. With six series of one hundred shots each, Callaghan was thirtieth with 577, with Miller in 38th with 576.
On the women’s side, Seonaid McIntosh and Amy Lilian Daniele Lott entered for Great Britain. McIntosh qualified in fourth place with 630.6, ahead of Lott in 88th with 622.3. McIntosh therefore entered the ranking round. There would be five series of five shots each, with the bottom two eliminated after three series, then again after four and five, with the final two going to the gold medal match. In the ranking match, McIntosh was joined by China’s Huang Yuting, South Korea’s Keum Jihyeon, France’s Oceanne Muller, Poland’s Julia Ewa Piotrowska, China’s Wang Zhilin, the USA’s Alison Marie Weisz, and China’s Zhang Yu. After the first series, McIntosh was sixth with 51.2, but was holding her own with 52.0 in the next series, and 51.7 in the third. This put her on 154.9, just 0.1 ahead of seventh-placed Wang who was eliminated alongside Muller (153.1). A 50.5 in the fourth series however confirmed that McIntosh would not take further part, finishing sixth with 205.4 and missing out on an Olympic spot.
Jess Liddon was a late entrant in the 10m Air Pistol: no Brits were on the starting list but having entered the 25m Pistol decided to enter this event late on too. She finished 48th with 568 points.
With the 10m events done and dusted, focus shifts to the 25m and 50m events. The Women’s 25m Pistol begins on 21 October, with the Men’s Rapid Fire Pistol beginning on 22 October, both have their finals on 22 October. The 50m Rifle 3 Positions competitions are from 20-21 October (women) and 21-22 October (men). Finals are available to view on the ISSF’s website.
The 2023 European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, will be the next chance for British athletes to qualify in 10m events.
GB Games 