Ballinger aims for Olympics

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34041, 3 January 1976, Page 28

Ballinger aims for Olympics

(By

BOB SCHUMACHER)

lan Ballinger broke through for his first success in the South Island fullbore rifle shooting championship at West Melton last Saturday, but he has little time to dwell on that success. The prime aim for the 50-year-old Ballinger is to gain a position in the New Zealand smallbore team for the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games.

Ballinger brought New Zealand smallbore shooting to the forefront with his bronze medal at the 1968 Mexico Olympics and in the ensuing years he has firmly established himself among the country’s best marksmen ov-er the 50m range.

He represented New Zealand at the world championships in Arizona in 1970 and finished thirty-fourth from 135 competitors with a score I of 591. Two years later he

was at the Munich Olympics and returned the same score to finish forty-sixth in a field of more than 100.

During the national, trials to select New Zealand’s representatives for the 1974 Commonwealth Games. Ballinger created a national record with the possible 600 fro 60 shots. He ruined his chances of a medal at Christchurch with a bad start in the initial 20 shots, but fired with uncanny accuracy over the final rounds to take fourth. Ballinger seriously considered not entering the trials to find the country’s smallbore representatives at next year’s Olvmpics, but he elected to make another attempt, and after his strong showings in the South Island trials he is now keenly' looking forward to the two national trials in the next five weeks. After regional and island trials 11 marksmen will contest the two national shoots

from which the selectors will make their nominations. The South Island will have six representatives at the trials — the first at Pauapahanui on January 24 and 25 and the second at the Commonwealth Gaines range at McLeans Island on February 7 and 8 —and the North Island has five finalists. Since 1966 when Brian Lacey and Don Wild represented New T Zealand at the Commonwealth Games in Jamaica, only four other smallbore shooters have shot for their country in international competition. Wild and Stuart Nairn have since dropped out of the sport, but the other four — Ballinger. Lacey, Mike Watt (Hutt Valley) and Jack Scott (Timaru) — are among the 11 ' striving for the two positions in the Olympic team. The four experienced international marksmen must ibe among the favourites for

the team, although Watt — Ballinger’s partner at the 1972 Olympics — returned the lowest total of the five North Island trialists. Ballinger has lost none of his touch. In the final South Island trial at Hinds he dropped only 17 points from a possible 1800 and returned 596 in one match. Ballinger, Scott, and Bill Sterritt (Christchurch) all scored better than the leading North Island shooter, Lindsay Arthur (Hutt Valley), in one’match over 60 shots. Ballinger showed the way! with 1783 at Hinds, a venue 1 where Sterritt scored his best total of 1773. Scott shot a card .of 1770 at the first South Island trial at Timaru and Arthur had the best score of the northern competitors with 1761 in.the second North Island trial at Waipa. The South Island shooters competed in three trials and their scores (from a possible

i 5400) were: Ballinger 5269, [Scott 5254, Sterritt 5249, I John Fleming (Ashburton), ■5241, Rex Davies (Christchurch), 5230, Ray Mitchell (Christchurch), 5225. Arthur finished three points ahead of the experienced Lacey in the two North Island trials. Scores were (possible 3600): Arthur 3512, Lacev 3509, Mrs N. Barlow (Hutt Valley), 3499. Laurie Moodie (Wanganui), 3493, Watt 3488.