ICFRA Target Rifle (TR) World Long Range Championships – South Africa March 2024

The ICFRA World Long Range Championships, Palma Match and Ages Matches were shot at the General de Wet ranges at Bloemfontein, South Africa between the 14^th and 23^rd March 2024. They had been postponed from 2023 because of the knock--on delays due to Covid, which required the F-Class World Championships to be staged in 2023, and which were originally due in 2021 and then 2022. As for the F-Class World Championships in 2023, the ICFRA TR Championships were organised and administered by the South Africa Bisley Union (SABU) and, as in 2023, the match programme ran very efficiently, much to the acclaim of all the competitors. The ranges were controlled by General “Mac” Alexander, whose attention to detail, good humour and ability to meet any problem arising ensured that the shooting progressed without incident and proved enjoyable to all.

In the days before the ICFRA events, the South African National Championships were held, covering a mixture of individual and team events, at both long and short ranges. The weather was exceptionally hot for the time of year and many of those arriving from the depths of a European or North American winter found the first few days somewhat of an ordeal. However, when coping strategies were put in place and with sufficient liquid consumption, many found it still very hot but just manageable. The hot weather persisted throughout the National Championships and most of the ICFRA competitions, with cooler weather and less fickle winds only arriving for the final two days in which the Palma Match was shot.

The first ICFRA match was the Tony Loughnan Memorial Team Match for the Veterans (over 60’s) and this was shot alongside the high-profile Protea International Match. South Africa ran out winners beating GB, Australia and the USA, by overtaking a lead of 13 points that GB held going into the final range and winning by a single point. (South Africa 1532.114, GB 1531.117, Australia 1513.104, USA 1426.78).

A couple of days later, the Veterans and Under 25 (U-25) World Team Championship matches were held: unfortunately, there were only two U-21 teams present, so a match of World Championship (WC) status could not be held for that age group, as the minimum number of competing nations to confer WC status is 4. The Australian Veterans won the match outscoring all the other teams at each of the 4 ranges. (Australia 1926.190, GB 1908.137, South Africa 1880.130, USA 1858.139). The U-25 match was much closer, with the South Africans leading after the first range on “v’s”, GB leading by 4 after the second range and by only 1 after the third range over South Africa and the USA until finally clinching it at 900m by much better damage limitation in what had become a most difficult wind. Most notable was a 50 scored by Christina Cumming (GB), the only one out of all the firers in both the U-25 and Veterans Matches. (GB 968.78, USA 958.84, South Africa 948.86, Australia 946.93, New Zealand 939.71).

The ICFRA World Long Range Championships (WLRC) started late on the morning of Sunday 17th March with a welcome from Bernand de Beer, Chairman of SABU, and an address by Deon Burger, VP ICFRA, together with the traditional flag raising of all attending nations. Shooting started after lunch at 700m, the first shoot of 15 to count with 3 firers per target in the continuing heat. Fortunately, everyone seemed to cope with the extra time on the firing point, albeit some better than others. Had the length of shoot with 3 per target proved generally unacceptable consideration would have been given to an abbreviated programme. Mitch Bailey (Aus) won the opening shoot with a score of 75.13, indicating the standard that would be required to win an individual range. Apart from the 900m on the second day, individual ranges were won with 75’s with a high “v” count. The 900m range on the second day, however, proved particularly testing, with Jeremy Langley (GB) winning with a 73.9.

In the overall WLRC match for individuals, the top 10 shot off in a final at 900m and carried forward their scores over the 3 shoots at each of the distances (700m, 800m and 900m). As firing in threes or pairs to a target was the norm in South Africa, the final stage was shot in pairs, with the top two at that point firing as a pair. As they were so close in scores, with only one point separating them and the one with the lower score having more “v’s” it was very comparable to golf match play, with each firer able to see exactly what his nearest opponent was scoring. It therefore gave much more pressure on the firers than if they had been firing on different targets and of course much more spectator appeal, as each shot was so crucial. The lead changed hands a few times, but Ash Bidgood (Aus) squeezed out Glyn Barnett (GB) by dropping one fewer point in the shoot off and winning with the same overall score but by a 6 “v” margin. John Underwood (GB) had an excellent 75.7 and Mitch Bailey (Aus) a 75.6, the third 75 of the day for the Bailey family, with both Mitch and Jim (his father) scoring 75’s in the last shoot at 900m in the individual championship.

With the completion of the individual matches and the age-group matches, most of the competitors who were not involved in the Palma Match departed after another excellent reception at which the individual prizes were presented. The following day was somewhat quiet, as it was Palma team practice day and most of the teams did not fire all three ranges.

Friday saw day 1 of the Palma Match and markedly cooler weather with much lighter winds and cloud cover. These were conditions that suited the firers with even and non-glaring light and comfortable temperatures for those in a shooting jacket, but less so for the coaches as the mirage was more difficult to detect. Seven countries took part, Australia, Canada, Germany, GB, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA, with Kenya shooting alongside in the half-teams match. Scoring at 700m was very high by all teams, with only 3 points spanning the top 4 teams. 800m saw Australia and GB opening a gap between them and the other teams, but even still GB only gained 3 “v’s” on Australia at this range. At 900m, Australia managed to gain 1 point over GB to lead by two on the day, with the gap continuing to widen over the other teams.

On the second day, the weather was at its most benign over the two weeks of shooting and that, coupled with the fact that the teams were now operating like well oiled machines, led to extremely high scoring. After 700m, the leaders were tied on both points and “v’s” and South Africa and the USA were left wondering what they had to do to get back in the match after scoring 1199 and 1200 respectively and only gaining two on GB and 4 on Australia in the process. The 800m was no better with both GB and Australia getting the maximum 1200, USA 1998 and South Africa 1996, the latter being excellent scores with which you would expect to gain ground rather than fall further behind. So, it all came down to the last range, with GB having a lead of only 4 “v’s”, hardly a decisive margin. Australia shot superbly with 14 out of the 16 firers making possible scores of 75 and eventually won by 4 points over GB. The final results were Aus 7172.996, GB 7168.1005, South Africa 7153.869, USA 7140.876, New Zealand 7030.703, Canada 6946.592, Germany 6683.465. However, it should be noted that on the second day’s scores, Australia were only ahead of the USA on “v’s” and one up on South Africa and two up on GB, so the importance of consistency over both days shone through as the trailing teams were unable to recover the deficit from the first day.

All the match records were torn to pieces, with new ones being set that will be very hard to match let alone better. Ten firers across the 4 top teams scored the maximum of 450 ex 450 over the two days, Three teams scored the maximum of 1200 ex 1200 at one of the ranges and Mitch Bailey (Aus) scored a 75.15 at both 700m and 800m. This was testament to the quality of the shooting coupled with the level of preparedness and slickness of both team drills and management brought to the championships by all the participating teams. 

In his opening remarks at the welcome function, the Secretary General had said that he hoped that all teams and individuals would shoot to their potential and that he hoped for very close matches. The scoring achieved by the winners of the individual and team matches definitely made these sentiments a reality.

ICFRA wishes to acknowledge the immense efforts put in by SABU in hosting and running such an outstanding series of matches and to thank the organisers, their supporting staff, and volunteers on behalf of all the competitors.

The baton now passes to the UK to host the series in 2028. The bar has been set very high for both the orderly running of the championships, and also the standard of shooting required to win a world championship match.