For the first time in it's history the Eastbourne League Thwaites Competition was hosted by East Grinstead TSC. It's always good to have home advantage! The weather was reasonable although the morning saw variable light and wind making for some interesting shooting. Andy Meyers (East Grinstead TSC) shot a magnificent match by only dropping 5 points during the 60 shot match giving a score of 595. Various other shooters tried to better Andy's score but fell by the wayside. The last detail of the day saw the conditions change with the wind dropping, the light fading and a gentle rain start.
Then up stepped Russell French (Chichester) who didn't drop a point in his first sixteen shots and completed the first card without further loss giving a score of 199, matching Andy's score. Things were beginning to look interesting! For his second card Russell once again matched Andy with a score of 197 so the competition was tied on 396. Russell cleared the next ten shots putting him on 496 and one point ahead of Andy. In order to stay there Russell had to match Andy's final ten shots and complete a double ton. Russell started well with the next three shots in the middle. His 54th shot was a 9 bringing the competition back to a tie. Unfortunately this was followed by another 9 putting Russell in second place. The rest were all in the middle giving a excellent final score of 594.
Full results are on the Eastbourne League website. East grinstead members did well overall as follows:
- Class A, 1st - Andy Meyers
- Class A, 3rd - Macolm Brain
- Class B, 2nd - Ian Payne
- Class C, 2nd - Trevor Wilde
- Class D, 1st - Elaine Kettle
- Handicap, 1st - Elaine Kettle
- Handicap, 3rd - Trevor Wilde
- Open Pairs, 1st - Andy Meyers / Malcolm Brain
- C and D Pairs, 1st - Trevor Wilde / C Philips
- C and D Pairs, 2nd - Elaine Kettle / Samantha Kettle
- Veterans, 1st - Malcolm Brain
- Gentlemen, 1st - Andy Meyers
- Best Card of Day, Gentlemen (199 x 200) - Russell French / A Meyers (twice!)
- Best Card of Day, Juniors (193 x 200) - Nick Humphries
