F-Class World Championship (FCWC) 2026 Report
By: L Peden - 18 Sept 2026
The F-Class World Championships were held at Bisley from the 11th to 16th August 2026 in hot weather throughout with none of the usual British rain. Many of the competitors had shot in the preceding NRA F-Class British Open in similar weather and at the same distances, so were eagerly awaiting the start of the FCWC.
However, Mr. Vito Bosco, an F-Open member of the Italian Team, collapsed on the range on his way to the 800-yard firing points shortly before shooting was due to commence on Day 1 of the individual FCWC. He very sadly passed away despite the very prompt attendance of the NRA staff followed by the provision of advanced medical support from emergency response ambulances and the Air Ambulance. The Match Committee took the difficult decision to cancel shooting for the rest of the day.
When shooting started in earnest on the second day of the individual FCWC, the wind continued to prove fickle and provided both entertainment and frustration to the competitors over all three ranges. Nevertheless, in FO, Brandon Zwahr (USA) won with 223 ex 225, two points clear of Craig Titmus (GB) in second place. In FTR, Junaid Ali (Pakistan) won with 221 ex 225, 4 points clear of Tracy Hogg (USA).
On the third day, the wind again spread the scores on the two shoots at 1000 yards, with Brando Zwahr (USA) winning in FO with 196 ex 200, 2 points clear of Stefan Steyn (South Africa) and in FTR, Keith Trapp (USA) won with 191 ex 200, 2 points ahead of James Crofts (USA).
After winning the aggregate of both days, there could be no doubt about the winner of the Milcun Shield for the FO World Champion – Brandon Zwahr (USA). He finished 6 points clear of his teammate Matthew Basalla. In FTR, the winning margin was 3 points in the competition for the Brian Boru trophy, with Junaid Alii (Pakistan) winning and Brad Sauve (USA) runner-up. Jock Foster (Aust) won the FO U-25 World Championship with a lead of 10 points over Joshua Massingill (USA). However, Jock’s score placed him 4th in the overall FO Championship, only 9 V’s behind third place. The FTR U-25 champion was Margaret Zhi Han (Canada), 13 points ahead of Adrian Nikolic (Croatia): her score ensured a placing of 20th in the FTR Championship.
For main teams, the next day was a rest day, as the Rutland (for FO) and South Africa Cup (for FTR) matches were held. Six teams entered the Rutland. For the top three places, the match was very much a battle of the coaches with two GB coaches, Bill Richards and Martin Townsend, both very experienced on the Stickledown range, tussling with Jock Foster from Australia. Jock was actually coaching the Australian U-25 FO Team and they ran out winners by 4 points after building an 8 point lead at 900 yards, with an excellent 298 ex 300. In the South Africa Cup, ten teams had entered and it was a very close finish, with USA Red pipping USA Blue by only 2 points, after being a point behind at the start of the 1000 yard shoot.
Despite the days of competition leading up to this point, the final two days of team match shooting was really what all the national teams had come to Bisley for and was what all their training and preparations had been directed toward.
The Farquharson Cup is presented to the winner of the FO team match and 10 teams had entered including Poland who were competing for the first time in this match. South Africa built up a good lead of 25 over the USA and 39 over Australia on day 1. After 800 and 900 on day 2, South Africa had increased the lead over the USA by another 3 points, but then relinquished 10 points to the USA at 1000, not enough however for the USA to claw back the overall deficit. So, South Africa with 3500 ex 3600 won by 18 points over the USA and 44 ahead of Australia. It was noted that on day 2 Australia scored 600 ex 600 at 800 yards and GB scored 600 at both 800 and 900 yards, illustrating the quality of competition.
The equivalent team trophy for FTR teams is the Richardson and there was an even bigger entry than for FO with 11 countries being represented, of which Croatia, Lithuania and Poland were first time entrants. After day 1, GB had a slender lead over the USA by 3 points and over Pakistan by 6. However, on day 2, Pakistan shot an excellent 600 ex 600 at 800 yards, levelling with the USA and cutting back the GB lead to 1 point. After 900 yards, GB increased their lead marginally over Pakistan to 2 points and over the USA to 4 points. In all competitions, the 1000 yard range is always the discriminator, emphasising both the technical ability of the shooters and the wind reading capability of the coaches, and so it proved in this match. GB scored 8 more than Pakistan and 12 more than USA to eventually win by 10 over Pakistan and 18 over USA. However, GB were not the top score at the final range, as Canada, who finished 4th overall, had a range score of 555 against GB’s 554. The score of 555 was the top range score of any of the teams at 1000 yards over the two days.
Alongside the main team matches, there were International Team matches for the U-25 FO and U-25 TR, but with only two teams competing in each category, it unfortunately meant that the matches did not carry World Championship status. However, that did not mean that there was no world class shooting taking place. The Australian FO team won their match over the USA by 1747 to 1708 points, but both teams had some excellent range scores contained in the overall totals. It was noteworthy that if the Australian U-25 FO score had been doubled, they would have finished 2nd in the main team world championship, such was the level of their scoring. In the U-25 FTR match, GB finished 8 points ahead of USA, with GB being 19 ahead after day 1 and USA pulling back 11 points on day 2. It was noteworthy that the members of both the USA teams and the GB FTR team were very young, most of whom will be eligible for U-25 in the 2030 FCWC and so to score so well in their first major international match augurs well for the future.
Over the days of shooting on the Bisley Stickledown range, there was a great display of personal marksmanship and team management skills. All the countries competing should be commended for the hard work put in over the past years to bring this to fruition. The British weather, a very unpredictable variable, was favourable throughout, with enough wind to make winning anything a demonstration of the world-class skills expected at a World Championship.
At the prizegiving, the ICFRA President, Des Vamplew from Canada, acknowledged all those from the NRA staff and the GBFCA who had made it such a resounding success and an enjoyable event for all the competitors. In closing the 2026 FCWC he duly passed the ICFRA flag to Australia, who will host the next FCWC at the Belmont Range Complex in Brisbane in 2030.
For detailed scores in all the matches, go here: https://icfra.com/past-results/#2026