MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Third Falklands Shooting record for G. Goodwin
A final score of 390 in the Open Full Bore Rifle Individual event, saw 22 year old Falklands shooter Gareth Goodwin finish in 24th position, 14 points behind the gold medallist, David Calvert of N. Ireland. Gareth's score broke the previous Falklands record, set by Ken Aldridge in Victoria 8 years ago, by a massive 16 points. His 24th position placing was also the highest ever for a Falklands competitor in this competition.
Starting the Third and Final stage just 4 points behind the leader, Gareth for the first time, showed signs of nervousness, and his score of 68 at 900 yards was achieved with considerable hard work. Realizing that his chances of picking up a medal had now evaporated, Gareth relaxed at the more demanding 1000 yards range and scored a creditable 71 for a score of 139 on the day, and a splendid aggregate of 390 over the Three competitive stages. His score here would have given him the gold medal at the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games, and a silver medal in Auckland 12 years ago!
Derek Pettersson who shared with Gareth in the record breaking Pairs event earlier in the week, maintained his 39th position overall (44 competitors) but had the misfortune to put 3 bullets on the wrong target at 1000 yards, so losing the possibility of 15 points. After an excellent score of 70 at 900 yards, Derek's 'self-destruction', as he later described it, saw him finish with 54, and a final total of 361. Derek admitted that his failure to obtain good scores at 300 yards during the Individual event, had scuppered his chances of breaking the Falklands record. However he did have, with Gareth, the satisfaction of establishing a new Falklands record in the Pairs event, and with his individual score in the Pairs. Both Falklands shooters scored 280.
Calvert added the Individual gold to the Pairs gold which he won earlier in the week. His score of 404. dropping just 1 solitary point throughout the competition, was a Commonwealth Games record. David Dodds of South Africa, the only shooter to score the maximum of 75 at both 900 and 1000 yards, had to settle for the silver medal on 403, while New Zealand's Diane Collings scored 74 & 75, so thrusting herself into the bronze medal position on 402.
Shooting Team Manager Ken Aldridge paid tribute to the performances of both Falklands shooters in the Full Bore events, but understandably pinpointed Gareth Goodwin's efforts as being 'outstanding'.
Patrick Watts - Manchester
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