-National champion excels but Guyana lose Goodwill series
Current national champion Ransford Goodluck continued his excellent form in Antigua ahead of the West Indies fullbore shooting championships when he captured three gold medals and three trophies at the Goodwill shooting competition over the weekend in St. John’s.
However, Guyana’s four-member team lost the team match to the Antiguans by 563 points to 559 according to reports out of Antigua.
Goodluck won all three ranges at 300, 500 and 600 yards and recorded 147 points for Guyana in the team match with national fullbore captain Mahendra Persaud recording 141 points, Ryan Sampson shot 140 while Lt. Col. Terry Stuart recorded 131.
Sampson captured one silver medal and two bronze, Persaud secure one silver and one bronze and Stuart one bronze.
Persaud in a brief interview with Stabroek Sport disclosed that he developed problems with his rifle but said that it was a wakeup call as the Guyanese shooters will have to step up their game in the regional championships which open with a practice shoot in Barbados today.
Persaud, Goodluck, Stuart and Sampson represented Guyana in the Goodwill tournament in Antigua which was used as a warm up for the regional competition and to assess Antigua/Barbuda’s preparedness to host the regional tournament next year. Meantime, the remaining six national shooters, Assistant Commissioner of Police Paul Slowe, Richard and Dylan Fields, Dane Blair, Claude Duguid and Charles Dean left Guyana yesterday for Bridgetown.
They will be joined by United States and Canadian based shooters Sigmund Douglas, Derrick Narine, John Fraser and Paul Archer in Barbados.
Guyana is being represented by a 14 member team as it seeks to defend both the West Indies short and long range titles.
Rifle shooters from Antigua/Barbuda, hosts Barbados, Bermuda, Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago will contest both the individual and team championships.
The Individual competition will get cracking tomorrow and runs until Thursday, while the long range team title match over 900 and 1000 yards will take place on Saturday and the short range match over 300, 500 and 600 yards will be staged on Sunday.
Persaud had said prior to the team’s departure that he is confident that the local side will be firing on all cylinders against tough competition that will be seeking to dethrone the Guyanese.
According to Persaud Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and hosts Barbados are all serious competitors for the title but he expects the Antiguans and Bermudans to be formidable contenders.
