Canty belt starts shooting build-up
John Whiteman will have more on his mind than trying to capture his third consecutive Canterbury fullbore shooting title when the provincial championships are contested at the West Melton range this week-end. The Commonwealth Games representative of three years ago will no doubt be thinking further ahead to a crucial period early in January; which is sure to decide whether he gains a nomination for the 1986 Edinburgh Commonwealth Games. Whiteman and another of New Zealand’s most experienced fullbore marksmen, Geoff Smith, of Malvern, are the only South Island men selected for the national trials to find the two nominees for Edinburgh. The first trial will be held at Trentham immediately after the national championships from January 7 to 11. Whiteman will be warmly favoured to claim his third consecutive championship,
but there are a couple of factors which might work against him. One is that he will have to be mentally in tune for the event,' keeping the national championships and the Commonwealth trials out of his mind. The other factor is a new barrel imported from Australia. Whiteman has only just had it fitted to his rifle and feels
he is short of hard match practice. “It (the rifle) is a little bit of an unknown quantity. I would have liked more shooting before this weekend. I’m not as well prepared as I was in the last couple of years, but I’ll certainly have everything sorted out for Trentham,” he said. Whiteman and Smith should get solid competition at West Melton from the former national represents; tive, John Dodson, of Blenheim, and Morrie Callaghan, from Westport, while another marksman in good form at present is Chris Bensemann, from the Christchurch club. The championship will be decided over seven 10-shot matches. Competition will begin with matches at 300 and 500 yards tomorrow morning, with two 600-yard events in the afternoon. The longer ranges, 800 yards and two rounds at 900 yards, will be contested on Sunday. DAVID LEGG AT
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Press, 13 December 1985, Page 25
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335Canty belt starts shooting build-up Press, 13 December 1985, Page 25
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