English Open Skeet 2024

The English Open Skeet Championship was held at the National Clay Shooting Centre at Bisley on Saturday and Sunday 25^th and 26^th May.

Saturday was a warm, dry day and the ground looked great in the sunshine.

Shooting in the first squad, Richard and Charlie Faulds took an early lead in the Parent and Child class with 193, only to be beaten in the next squad by Marcus and Ethan Lord on 194.

Chris Morgan shooting first on Squad 1 scored 95 in C Class which was to remain unbeaten.

Also shooting in the first squad, Peter Saich recorded 90 with his side-by-side.  Harry Peart took the lead on 92 at midday then in the last squad, Victor Annand also scored 92 for joint lead.

In the ‘Main event’ Tristan Hockey shot a faultless 100 straight later in the morning.  There were some good scores throughout the day with 99’s from Martin Brister, Ethan Lord, Jamie Brightman and Alexander Bayley from the Channel Islands, then in the afternoon Joe Clark also shot 100 straight.

Martin Brister led the Veteran’s class overnight with his 99, while top Lady’s score at the end of day one was Isobel Russell with 98.

Day two started with rain and continued with passing showers and dark cloud for most of the day with the exception of prizegiving when the sun came out.

There were no more 100’s but four more 99’s from John Dunne, Allen Warren, Matthew Morgan and Bill Moussalli.

At the end of the competition rounds, there were shoot-offs required to determine all of the following:  Champion, Runner-up and 3^rd overall, 1^st AA, 1^st A, 1^st Side by Side, 1^st Veterans and 1^st Super-veterans.

First to shoot off were Victor Annand and Harry Peart in the side-by-side category.  At the end of the full round, each scored 22 so went on to pairs in the middle.  They were again equal on the first rotation but Victor won with 3 to 2 on the second.

Surprisingly none of the other shoot-offs needed to progress to pairs.  Bill Moussalli scored 25 to take overall third place and Super-Veterans category.  Allen Warren scored 24 for first place in AA and Veteran High Gun and John Dunne scored 23 to take A Class victory.

Saving the best until last, the shoot off for English Open Champion between Joe Clarke and Tristan Hockey finished 24 to 23 in Joe’s favour, giving him his first Major Skeet title.

Tristan was runner-up and of course won the Juniors with his 100 straight.

Isabel Russell took the Ladies prize with 98 and George Billington won B class with 97.

Chris Morgan’s first day 95 gave him the C Class Trophy while Matthew Huxtable scored 94 to win the Colts trophy.

Chris Budd and James Centre tied on 92 for the Disabled, standing title but James did not return for a shoot-off leaving Chris to collect the trophy and Title and Ben Woodham triumphed in the Disabled, sitting category with 91.

Ethan and Marcus Lord retained the Parent and Child Trophy with a combined score of 194.

The Top five-man Team were ‘East and West’ with 476, comprising Sonny Bowman, Leon Gill, Kian Maher, Martin Walmsley and Tom Clifford.

The Shooter’s Trophy was awarded to Alex Bayley from Jersey in the Channel Islands.  He scored 99 on Saturday and just lost out in the shoot-off for A Class, finishing second.  He has had a busy couple of weeks as he was at NCSC for the NSSA Skeet event the previous weekend where he recorded his first 100 straight at NSSA.  He also took in the Grand Eastern at Dartford and proved his dedication to skeet by returning for the shoot-off on Sunday before setting off to Poole and the overnight Ferry home.

Thank you to our sponsors for the donated prizes and congratulations to the National Clay Shooting Centre for keeping the event running to time on both days.  Good teamwork from the Office, Ground staff, Referees and of course the catering staff, all helping to keep everyone happy.

Thanks also to Clare Heney from CPSA Head Office for keeping track of the winners and various placings after the multiple shoot-offs.

- Report from Peter Saich, South East Region Director