Canadian success in free pistol event

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33446, 30 January 1974, Page 10

Canadian success in free pistol event

(By

R. L. SCHUMACHER)

The tide of fortune finally turned in favour of the Canadian physician, Dr Jules Sobrian, at the Burnett range yesterday.

After winning a silver and bronze medal in shooting at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Jamaica and another silver in Ihe rapid-fire event on Monday, the Trinidad - born doctor seemed fated to be a bridesmaid but never the bride.

But he dispelled that theory yesterday morning with a sustained period of controlled and accurate shooting to win the gold medal in the free pistol competition.

It gave Canada yet another success in shooting. Of the four gold medals decided so far, Canada has won three and has added a silver. And in keeping with the pattern established in other

events completed, Sobrian set a new Commonwealth Games record. His total of 549 from the possible 600 was an improvement of five points on the score of C. H. Sexton (England) in 1966. Even after Sobrian had fired his sixtieth and final shot the issue was far from clear-cut. In fact, his last

bullet proved to be the crucial one.

He needed a bull to gain a one-point lead over the Australian, Norman Harrison, who had. finished his shooting an hour earlier, to head the provisional results. Sobrian’s previous five shots had been 8,9, 9. 9, 9. With the steadiness of a surgeon, he delicately, but positively, aimed his' pistol and split the bull.

He never bothered to check the shot through the telescope. “If I fire a 10, I know it’s a 10 the way the gun breaks and climbs in my hand.” he said. After official marking, Harrison received another point and both marksmen had scores of 549.

On the count-back, based on the last string of 10 shots (when the pressure is at its peak) Sobrian won the gold with 91 to Harrison’s 89.

Approaches different

Although the totals were the same, the two shooters had vastly different approaches. Harrison was second to finish of the 19 contestants and had an hour to spare. Sobrian paced himself and the cease-fire signal sounded just four minutes after his final shot. “I felt I had the stamina to work those 60 shots today. I always fire my free pistol shots as slowly as possible to allow myself no regrets later,” he said. Apart from three sevens, Sobrian peppered the bull or just outside it. After returning reasonable sighters, his first counting shot was jerked and he dropped three points.

Own range

Sobrian, aged 39, has his own range at the back of his surgery in Ontario. He said that his house was designed around the range. He settled in Canada 17 years ago and began standard pistol shooting in 1961. The year before the 1970 Commonwealth Games, he started with free pistol and his prowess was such that he won the silver medal at Edinburgh.

Harrison, erect in stance and steady of hand, found conditions to his liking and quickly reeled off his 60 shots. The 34-year-old New South Wales marksman has an outstanding record in state championships and has attended Olympic Games and world championships. Success could not have eluded him by a more narrow margin. Harrison’s placing stopped the event from becoming a medical practitioner’s benefit. Dr Laslo Antal, the British pistol champion, scored con-

sistently between 89 and 93 to take the bronze medal. Canada’s other entrant, Don Hadford, whose casual clothes matched his approach, beat the only shooting representative from Trinidad and Tobago, Bertram Manhin, for fourth on a count-back. Time forced Manhin — the last to finish — to hurry his final shots. “That last string was not good, I dropped too many,” he said. However, considering the facilities for pistol shooting in his country — “an open quarry with one bench” — his placing was a compliment to his ability to overcome difficulties.