John Maxwell's Diary
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Received September 15th
Well here we are " on the road again " so to speak and at present we are between Dublin and Amsterdam on the way to Cyprus for the final event in our programme for this year, the 2003 World Championship. A quick flight of 5 hours was good and when I spoke to the Aussies who had 30 hours plus,  Dublin seems like a grand place ( a bit of Irish for you). With just 1 official training day here we have to get it right very quickly after some lower than expected results in Italy. The ground in Cyprus has a good name for high scores and good targets and the bright green pasture in front of the trap houses makes visibility excellent. We arrived on the night of September 9 and on the 10th it was off to the club to see if we could get some training rounds. As we came over the hill towards the ground the range was different, no green pasture in front of the traps just dirt and broken clays. They had made a noise bank at the front just weeks before and the bull dozer had only finished less than 2 weeks prior. This did not affect the visibility and the targets broke well and scores were good in the bright sunshine with temperatures in the mid 30's. Official training was the next day and only 2 rounds was allowed due to the number of entries totaling 665.  The 4 trap ranges and 4 skeet ranges would be very busy for the next week and the days were hot and long with 4-5 hours between rounds.
Day 1 of competition.
We started early and results were ok but no clean rounds in our group. Derek had shot 100/100 in training so his first round of 23 was a bit low. Then the weather changed with big winds and dust storms from 1 pm onwards. Scores for some were ruined but others battled through with some luck and good shooting to have good scores. Only 1 shooter had 50/50 - Pellielo from Italy. Due to the large number of competitors the competition was run over 3 days with the men shooting 50 on day 1, 25 on day 2 and 50 plus a final on day 3. Ladies had 50 on day 1 plus 25 and a final on day 2. Juniors had 50, 50 and 25.
With day 1 out of the way we need to shoot the rest of the targets to have any chance in the teams and Derek would need 75 staight to have any chance of making the final and then on 121/125 it was a slim chance. That was just the chance he needed and he rolled in 75 straight to get a shoot off chance for the final. 5 people tied on 121 for the 5th and 6th spots. Shoot off is single barrel and only went 3 targets to eliminate 3 people to get the 2 for the final. Unfortunately Derek was not one of them and his final position was 8th. A great effort after being in the final in Finland last year. No Aussies in the final - this is a rare occasion these days and Michael Diamond was closest with 120/125.

Club from gate

Office block

Restaurant

Skeet range

Trap range

Turkish flag

4 Skeet ranges from gate

4 Trap ranges from gate

It's now back to Ireland leaving at 6am tomorrow from the hotel. Next week will be spent packing up and finalising the team business for this year and then its on the plane and back to Oz to see you all at the Masters Games. Lots of Shirts and Hats for the raffles and looking forward to being back in at the Club.
Cheers for now and get a xxxx ready!!!!!!
John.
PS In the photos you will see one of the Turkish Flag. This is painted on the side of a mountain probably 30-40 kms from the club and in a position so all the Greek population of Nicosia can see it. This was put there after the war in Cyprus in the 70s.
The website for the results from the World Champs is www.issf-shooting.org

Hello from Italy.
Sunday September 7th.
Just a quick update from Lonato before heading back to Dublin and then in 2 days we go to Cyprus for the World Champs.
Lonato is considered a difficult place to shoot for some strange reason as it is a beautiful shooting ground. Scores are always lower here than at other venues and the tension this causes in competitors often causes their destruction. Imagine winning a World cup without shooting one 25. That happened here where Giovanni Pellelio shot 6 x 24's to finish on 144/150 to win by 2 targets from Adam Vella  who shot off with Ed Ling from G Britain ( just 21 yrs old), both had 142/150. Michael Diamond was 5th after a first round of 21/25. Our shooters from Ireland had a bad time here with scores of 109,106, 100 /125. very disappointing after some good practice days of 120/125,96/100 95/100. Just shows what the pressure of competition can do IF YOU LET IT. Next week we go to Cyprus to the shooting ground in Nicosia which is considered to be one of the best for shooting in the World and the scores will be high and shooters happy!!!!.
Attached are photos of the sponsors at the Lonato shoot. Imagine if we were able to get this type of support in Australia??????

Caio for now , next news will be from Cyprus.
John

Monday September 1st.
I will send this in small parts from Italy as we go through the week and some photos when I return to Ireland.
After 3 weeks touring Ireland and a coaching day for DTL at Ennis I am now back at Lonato for the World Cup and the Beretta Cup. The Beretta Cup was held on Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 August with 50 targets on Saturday and 100 on Sunday. The winner on Saturday was Adam Vella from Melbourne with 50/50 and 24 in the shoot off with Ian Peel from England. Sunday was another day with 50 targets in perfect sunshine and the other 50 during a cold weather front moving through. The temperature went from 33 degrees to low 20s with huge wind gusts and your score depended on when you shot. Winning score was an Italian with 95. Ian Peel was again 2nd and Irish shooters were around 15th place with 90 and 88. Adam Vella also had 90. (This was enough to get 215 Euros in prize money each. Prizes went down to 50th place - there were 60 squads entered so not bad for a trench shoot).
We are now preparing for the World Cup and will train from today - Monday Sept 1 to Wednesday and shoot competition on Thursday and Friday and return to Ireland on Saturday.
More news soon.
John 

Hello from Ireland, Back in Ireland after a couple of weeks in Spain. Temperature has gone down 15 deg c but weather is good and very little rain for the next two weeks. During this time based in Dublin with a weekly trip to the north for Coaching/Training days at Logues Hill. Other training is at Ashborne near Dublin where the National Shooting Ground is. On the weekend of the 19 & 20 July the British Open DTL Championship was run at Ashborne. Around 78 squads of 5 shooting 100 targets points score. No 300's recorded this day but the 299 's shot off. JM did not have a good day and only shot 95/100. Eventual winner was from England and this was the biggest shoot ever run in Ireland.

Home in Ireland

July 27. Fly to Prague then by road to Brno.
Left Dublin by Aerlingus to fly to Prague. A nice little 3 hour flight which is a welcome relief from the long haul flights from Australia. Landed in Prague and as we are walking towards the terminal made a joking comment of "I wonder what will go wrong here??" Soon found out at customs when I needed a visa issued outside of the Czech Republic and all the Irish are through immigration as no visa required and I am stuck on the other side with a minder wanting to put me back on the plane to Dublin. With the help of one of the airline staff we got them to discuss the issue and finally had one of the bosses in the Immigration Police agree to issue me with a visa at the airport. Still a catch as this was only 5 days and needed 7. (Managed to get it done in the city without the need to go to out of the country.)
Now safely in Czech and off to Brno about 220 kms away by bus. Hotel in Brno was the Holiday Inn which was excellent and was just 10 years old being built since the revolution. Shooting range was 10-15 minutes away by taxi so all is looking good. This is the best chance for the Irish shooters to win a quota place for Athens as there are 5 places available.
July 28. BRNO
A trip to the range to see if we could do some practice proved fruitless as the range was closed for a media conference with the Czech Organising Committee. Not wasted as we had a look around the range and it looked good. Built some time ago under the Eastern Block rule it was typical of that type or range with pine trees in the background about 100 metres away. Visibility was excellent and we are looking forward to our first practice day on Tuesday July 29.
Practice Days were July 29 and 30. Scores were good but not as high as Spain as the targets a little faster and much harder to break in composition. But visibility was very good so it's a matter of doing the job better than the opposition.
Thursday, Friday, Saturday.

Trap range

Trap range

Skeet range

Skeet range

Trap final

Restaurant at range

European Championships were shot over 3 days to accommodate the large number of competitors. After the first day all was cruising along OK with all shooters within sight of that elusive Olympic Quota Place. After the 2nd day we only had David Malone still in with a chance and we guessed that he needed to shoot 25 in the last round to have a chance for the final (unfortunately a 22 was not enough). This was correct as 6 people on 119 shot off for 3 positions in the final and this left 3 from France, 1 Italian, 1 Turkish, 1 German. As no one had quotas all except 1 of the French would get a spot at Athens.
Eventual winner was France, 2nd Germany, 3rd Italy, 4th Turkey, 5 & 6 France
European Championships now over and back to Ireland for a short break before starting to train for the World Championships.

Caio for now,
John

June 27 to June 30.
After a hectic schedule for the World Cup in Granada it was time for a few days off and do some of the tourist things around Malaga. This part of the Spanish coast is well developed for the tourist industry and seems to be full of people who come to this area for the sunshine and beaches. Although not the typical Aussie beach there were plenty of visitors and certainly plenty of sunshine with the temperature staying up in the mid 30's. During this time visited Gibralter for a day and checked out the holiday places along the coast which I have heard the names of but never seen.

Gibraltar

Gibraltar

Apes - Gibraltar

Gibraltar

Bullfight

Bullfight

Bullfight

More boats in the harbours than you can imagine and plenty to eat and drink. A quick trip to the bullfights on Sunday after not being able to find the Malaga Gun Club (as it turned out I was on the right road but stopped a couple of km short of the entry gate which I could not have missed).
July 1 to July 6
During this week the World Championship in Hellice of ZZ as we know them was being held at the Gorion Club at Alicante. Alicante is some 530 km north of Malaga and a quick drive there in the hired Peugeot 206 diesel and it was once again looking for the Gun Club. For those who are not aware of what ZZs are, they are like a plastic target with wings. The target part is white and the wings red, and they are shot off special traps inside a pigeon ring. The aim is to get the white part inside the ring for a 1 but if it is hit and lands outside the circle it is lost. It simulates live bird shooting with targets. Sounds simple enough so once the Gun Club is located the rest should be easy! 

The programme was arranged so there was 3 lead up events before the World Champs. Event 1 was 12 targets over 3 traps shot 2 at a time from each trap so it required 2 trips through the traps. Only 1 shooter at a time shoots on each trap so it takes all day and with Spanish starting times even this is difficult. 
First run through the traps having hit 6 with a borrowed gun all looks good. Due to the late starting time  they didnt get through all the shooters on the first day but at 9pm as I was on the last trap hit one with the 2nd Barrel and pushed it over the fence so 11/12 no good as 12 possibles and prize money was to 12 th place.Event 2 was 6 targets. With 6/6 it was line up for the shoot off at the end of the day with the other 25 or so possibles and start the shoot off. In this shooting you pay for each bird with a token as you shoot. ( tokens were 1.5 euro each - approx $3  Aussie bucks) 4th target in the shoot off pushed another one over the fence so back to the gallery again. This had prize money down to 20th place so this put me equal 15 with 6 others so we split Euro 2400 . That E 400 ( 800 Aussie bucks paid for the shoot nominations for the 5 days so all is well). Shoot off went 27 targets.Event 3. Another 6 target event and this time not so lucky as shot the 2nd target with the 1st barrel and straight over the fence it went. Early finish that day.Shoot off went 46 targets in this event and was the same person from Italy who won the day before. So he has now hit some 80 or so straight ( this guy is the current World Champion)Event 4 25 target World Championship. With elimination if you miss 4 targets.Shot the same as the first events with 12 per day and 2 per trap. Entries were now over 300 and reported to be low as they expected at least 400-450.First 6 in so all ok. 2nd 6 of the day and again shot one and when it separated the wind pushed the white piece over the fence, then missed one so finished the day 10/12.   The 2nd day was off early and I was towards the end of the field so had my first shot around 11am. And short it was too as missed the first 2 out so not a day to remember. This was the last day in Alicante and then headed back to Malaga on Sunday morning in time to catch the pigeon shoot at Malaga Gun Club on Sunday afternoon. Armed with some new directions found the place easily this time.

Entry - Malaga

Pigeon Ring

Clubhouse-Malaga

Clubhouse-Malaga

Betting-Malaga

BBQ-Malaga

Trench-Malaga

Sunday evening they have a small pigeon shoot and BBQ, so borrowed a gun again and had some fun with the gambling (as a spectator) and was offered 50% of the winnings to miss a selected target. Didn't take the bookies offer and shot a possible but the locals decided not to shoot off and give me the badge and split the money. 
Monday 7 July. Back to Dublin.
Caio for now
John

June 20 - Friday
We are in Granada in Spain and staying in an old monastery that has been converted into a hotel. Not the most salubrious place in town, but OK for sleeping as this was all we did there. After a quick check in the wardrobes to ensure there were no nuns still hiding there we unpacked and went to the new shooting range where the World Cup was to be held.
They have spent some 20-25 million Aussie dollars building a great shooting range with 5 trench and skeet ranges plus a rifle and pistol range so they can shoot all the Olympic events at the one site. The clubhouse resembles a good Sydney hotel with restaurants and gym facilities and rooms for accommodation. These were full for the competition so we were in town about 20 minutes away.

Clubhouse hotel

Entry gate

Final range

Trench

Outdoor bar

Range hotel lobby

June 21 - 22 - Saturday & Sunday
Practice day for us again and all are shooting well. It is obvious the scores will be high in the World Cup if the targets are left the same. Aussies arrive and as usual Michael Diamond's gun didn't arrive.
June 23 - Monday
Official practice day. All shot well today but still some room for improvement if you allow for the easier than usual targets. Spent a few hours today trying to get Michael D sorted out with a gun. We borrowed a Perazzi action and put JM's stock on it but a bit short and the pad is glued on so could not lengthen it. We eventually borrowed an adjustable stock from a Spanish shooter and set it up for him. (Just our bit to help the Aussies).
June 24 - Tuesday
Firsty day of the World Cup for the men and the only day of competition for the ladies. Weather is typical of Spain at this time of year and was 34-38° C, a bit of wind and a long day of competition with the record number of entries in the World Cup. Men and ladies total number was around 220.
Shooting started at 8.30am with the 9 ladies squads shooting first. It was evident from the first 3 squads that the scores would be high for both men and ladies as there were clean rounds of 25 in every squad. By the end of the day before the final in the ladies the top score was 73/75. Rosemary was the only Irish lady competing here and had 12 targets more than in Perth, so with some more work from the coach we will make her competitive for the European Championships in August at Brno in the Czech Republic. Ladies competition over with 1st place to France 73+22+3, 2nd place to Spain 71+24+3 and 3rd place to Slovakia 72+22. (Nessa Jankins from Australia was 4th)
Mens competition still going with another 50 targets to go on Wednesday.
June 25 - Wednesday
Lat 50 targets of the mens competition. Michael Diamond finishes on 124/125 (with a borrowed gun?). Scores into the final were Michael D on 124 and 5 shooters on 123. These scores were huge and reflect the good shooting range and slightly softer than usual targets. Best of the Irish shooters was Derek Burnett on 120/125 with David Malone and Phillip Murphy on 116/125.
After the final the unthinkable had happened and Michael D missed 4 to be 6th. Ist place was Portugal 148/150+7, 2nd place France 148+6 and 3rd place Spain 147.
For us the World Cup was over and it was back to Ireland for the group, minus JM who is going to shoot the World ZZ Competition in Alicante for the next week.
Other results of interest for the Aussies in the World Cup - Russell Mark Silver Medal in Double Trap, Susie Trindall Bronze Medal in Ladies Double Trap but won Australia's first Ladies shotgun quota place for the Athens Olympics.
Adios amigos!
John

June 6 - Friday
After the training camp in Lonato it was back to Milan and on to London, then straight to Dublin.
June 7 - Saturday
The day after arrival was the Irish Open DTL Championship. As things go with airline travel my second case was missing and didn't turn up until the next day around 3pm. This was just after I had shot the first 25 targets (and missed two). The competition was 100 targets Pointscore. With 75 targets to go and already down 7 points it was not going to be such a good day, apart from the rain and a temperature of 13° (Irish summer). After my stock turned up the next 75 were OK with a second barrel in each round. That was the end of the Irish Open with 98/290 - not good enough as the winning score was 100/298.
June 8th - Sunday and a 100 target selection shoot at a place called Logues Hill in Northern Ireland. Two very nice trench layouts with excellent visibility.

Logues Hill Trench 1

Logues Hill Trench 2

St Marco square,Venice

St Marco cathedral

Grand Canal

Venice

Venice

Venice

Lake Guardia

Guardia Village

Desanzano

Sirmione

Lonato trenches

Lonato trench 6

Lonato club

Lonato restaurant

Lonato gunshop