Saturday 24 April

0815 At least a 30 minute delay in start of shooting due to mist. Targets hardly visible at 1000 yards.

1100 It's all over!!

Shooting got under way just before 0900, in a hazy light that improved markedly as the morning progressed. The wind also became very much more variable.

[photos - CRPF Band; Jim and Sandy just before the final shoot]

More details after the Medal Ceremonies, but:

Pairs: NZL 585.55, AUS 577.51; NIR 576.43
Badge: Ross McQuillan NIR 28425, Brian Carter NZL 282.23, Daniel Richardson JER 282.21

Individual Queen's Prize: Gareth Morris WAL 397.42, Petrus Haasbroek RSA 394.41, James Corbett AUS 394.37, Jim Paton CAN 391.34

The Closing could be quite a gala judging from the colourful characters assembling.

2130 here. The major feature of the Closing was a performance by the CRPF Band. This came out in Scottish uniforms, with the bandsmen equipped with pipes or drums. But the performance was rather like a US College band, certainly not military marching, with Indian music played on bagpipes! There were several speeches - mostly incomprehensible - and the medal awards were made. The President of the ISSF was present, and gave away some medals, but the President of ICFRA was not recognised at all. There will probably be repercussions from this.

When I get home and can work from my own computer, rather than from this rather erratic public terminal here, I'll try to add some pictures.

For now .......... that's it!

This whole thing has been quite an experience!

Friday 23 April

Happy St. George's Day!

The weather was again slightly cooler, with a fairly clear light. In fact, for the first time, the sky directly above was almost blue and there were complaints about shafts of sunlight coming through the awning over the firing point! The wind as from the right, moderate strength with occasional gusts.

Shooting this morning was at 900 yards. First the Pairs/Badge events and then the QP Individual. Subject to protests, in the Pairs we have: AUS 296.7; NZL 295.3; RSA 294.7. I do not yet have the detailed badge scores.

In the Individual, the leader board shows: Haasbroek, RSA, 327.35; Morris, WAL, 326.39; Corbett, AUS, 326.31; Paton, CAN, 324.31; Calvert, NIR, 323.29. However, there is a protest regarding the shoot of Grenfell, AUS, last night's leader.

I will add to this later on.

** As of 2100 here, the protest has been denied but an appeal has now been launched. Hence, the order of the top scores remains in doubt.

Tomorrow is the final day of the competitions. All firing will be at 1000 yards: first the Pairs/Badge Match and then the Individual Queen's Prize. We should have results and the awards ceremonies by noon.

Many thanks to all those who have indicated they are looking at these daily burbles!

Thursday 22 April

Just after 11 am here, and the 600 yards is complete.

Today was much clearer, thank goodness, and perhaps a little cooler. But it is also more humid. What that presages, who knows, but all will be revealed!

[photo - shooting begins and ends with bugle calls]

The range has low hills on the left side, with some vegetation, but on the right it is flat and open, with a lot of construction going on. With the prevailing wind from the right, this brings in a lot of blowing dust ,which has been part of the trouble. At the start today, the wind was slightly from the left, and things were much clearer. During the morning, the wind shifted to the right, but had nothing like the strength of the last few days.Hence, much less difficulty with visibility.

Starting at 600 at 7 am, firing the Pairs/Badge (10 shots) first, the Stages I (7 shots) and II (10 shots) of the Individual, all was done by 0945.

I don't have the scores for the Pairs/Badge, but the individual is developing nicely! HPS so far is 255.
Geoff Grenfell AUS 255.35, Gareth Morris WAL, 254.35, David Calvert NIR 254.28, Petrus Haasbroek RSA 254.28, James Corbett AUS 254.24, and Jim Paton CAN 253.28.

With 15 shots to go at 900 yards tomorrow and 1000 yards on Saturday, much can happen yet.

The air flight situation seems to be easing, so there are fewer worries about getting back to or across Europe.

More soon!

Wednesday evening

All shooting today was at 500 yards. There was a heavy heat/smog/dust haze which made the targets very difficult to see. Thank goodness firing was not at any longer distance. 600 yards in the morning could be a problem.

[photo - there are targets down there somewhere!]

Events continued:
Pairs (no Canadian Team): RSA 200.25; NZL 199.24; AUS 199.22
Badge:leading John Snowden NZL 100.14; 6 other scores of 100; Jim Paton 97.7.
Individual:Gaz Morris WAL 170.23; Geoff Grenfell AUS 170.21; James Corbett AUS 170.13; Jim Paton CAN 169.20.

As always it was HOT, and by soon after 0930 some targets were failing. Luckily it was all completed before 1000.

Tomorrow, as I said, it will all be at 600 yards with the same courses of fire.

Use of the range is gradually settling down as shooters become more familiar with the electronic systems and gadgetry. Scoring, when there are no problems is very fast, and there are large TV screens showing spectators and others the current standings.

More tomorrow!

Wednesday 21 April

0620 at the range.

Yesterday went much better than the previous days. Shooting was brought forward to start at 0700 and after a few fits and starts got going at 0725. Firing was only at 300 yards, with the Pairs and Badge Matches (10 shots), and Stages I and II of the individual. It was still very hot, and, by the time it was all over around 1000, some targets were beginning to get erratic.

Canada is not in the Pairs, since Paul was not able to get here. Top teams are Australia and New Zealand with 100.12 so far. In the individual, Gaz Morris of Wales has 85.11, with Geoff Grenfell (Aust), Jim Paton (Can), Ross McQuillan (NIre) and Brian Carter (NZ) on 85.10.

Today will see the same course of fire, all at 500 yards.

It is a bit hazy with a steely overcast this morning. The forecast is for continuing hear with perhaps a thunderstorm by week's end.

All those travelling to or through Europe are watching with anxiety the situation created by the Icelandic volcano. We may or may not get home in good time!

More later.

Monday 19 April

The main trouble with the electronic targets seems to be the heat! By 10 am, as the temp approaches 45C, they start to become erratic and some fail. Today, for the 900 and 1000 yard practice, shooting started an hour earlier at 8 am. That allowed most people to get through without incident.

With the single firing point, the targets have to be moved when a range distance changes. In spite of large numbers of local labour, that is a slow process. Hence, for the compeitions which get underway tomorrow, it has been decided: firstly, to start at 7 am (!); secondly, to fire all the ranges at given distance on one day. Hence, tomorrow, will be 300 yards, Wednesday 500 yards and so on. The order of events will be The Pairs and Badge Matches (10 shots), Stage I (7 shots) and Stage II (10 shots). What this means is that no event will be completed until the 1000 yards is fired on Saturday. But I'll try to bring you interim scores. It's possible that information may also appear on the Sius Ascor web site - Sius are the makers of the target system.

Otherwise, it continues very hot, with no relief in sight at all. I've been quite busy re-doing the squadding for the above events. But from now, with shooting finished each day before 10 am, perhaps there will be some chance of getting out a bit. The heat however serves as a considerable disincentive!

Sunday 18 April

Just to let you all know that we are still alive - just! Even by the torrid standards of New Delhi in early summer, there has been and continues to be a heat wave that even the locals agree is impressive. By 9:30 am, the temperature is already at 40C, and reaches the high 40s later on. Quite apart from anything else, this has caused major problems with the electronic target indication and scoring. In the heat, the system gets erratic and then collapses. As a result, the schedule has been reorganised to start much earlier in the morning and to avoid delays in moving targets from distance to distance. When I start report scores to you, which I hope to do in a couple of days, you'll see what I mean.
The range complex is impressive, and I'll have more to say about that later too.
Frm the Canadian Team perspective, it is most unfortunate that Paul Tremblay got caught up at London with the airport shut down caused by the volcanic eruption in Iceland. It now seems impossible for Paul to get here for the shoot. The same applies to the shooters from England, Scotland and Guernsey. So the entry is down to 20 for the main individual event, and 7 teams in the pairs. Shooting for score in these starts on Tuesday.
The 300m metre events were completed, in the mornings before the heat fried the targets. Wales won the Gold Medals in both the Pairs and Individual. Unfortunately, due the refusal of funding, there were no Canadian shooters in these events.
The heat has been tricky for shooters, staff and officials. I've never drunk so much water in my life! And there are a few cases of "Delhi Belly" floating around which one hopes will not cause too much problem.
More to come! Jim