2016 a successful year for TeamBale
Another busy year for the Bale team, taking them to many competitions home and abroad. They competed in Germany, Belgium, Poland, Sweden, Estonia and the home countries to name but a few. A year in which saw between them, win thirteen trophies, and sixteen medals, a successful year in all. In November Jack was welcomed by Team England as a Team England Shooting Athlete Ambassador.
The start of the year was Intershoot in the Netherlands, always an excellent competition to take part in and all four of them competed. Jack though still a junior, decided he wanted to compete as a senior to take his competition to the next level; he wanted to compete against the Olympic medallists that were competing this year. Then next was the British Airgun Open at Bisley. This was again another competition that all four Bale athletes compete, Jack was to medal in the Senior Men’s Air Rifle and Dean to medal in the Junior Men’s Air Rifle Championships. February was a busy month with Jack then going to the 10M Air European Championships in Gyor Hungry, he again competed as a senior. Jack had a good shoot, getting a qualifying score of 622.1. He also competed at this event in the Mixed Team Air Rifle match with Seonaid McIntosh with the pair finishing thirteenth just point eight outside the final.
Move on to March it was off to Falkirk for the Scottish Air Rifle Championships. They had never competed in Scotland before and we all enjoyed it. Jack and Dean did well in the Men’s Championships, making it an exciting competition to watch when they finished with 0.1 between them, Dean taking Gold and Jack taking Silver. Having had a busy February, March was just as busy, with Jack and Dean off to compete in the ISAS International in Dortmund. Both Jack and Dean medalled taking Bonze and Gold in 10m Air Rifle, they competed in 3X40 3 position and prone which they both did well in.
Having said we had not been to Scotland before competing, we were to make another trip to Edinburgh in April for them to train and compete in a British Shooting invitational match, first time to Edinburgh and a great city to see. To finish April, over the Bank Holiday weekend Jack, Emily and Philippa competed at the ESSU Championships and Dean went to the ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl Germany. Unfortunately, Dean did not repeat the success in the 3X40 this year as he did last year when he made the final, perhaps he will in 2017 in his last year as a junior.
June always starts with the British 50m Championships at Bisley Jack, Dean and Emily have competed in this competition for a few years now and always enjoy it, and this year was no exception. Dean and Jack made the final in the Men’s 3X40 3 position with Dean taking the Gold Medal with a lead of 12.4 points. Emily has been concentrating more on her small-bore shooting and she enjoyed the competition. June saw Jack and Dean go to Tallinn, Estonia to compete in the European Junior 50m Rifle Championships. Jack and Dean competed in both 3X40 3 position and prone events, Dean narrowly missing out on the final by one point placing him ninth place. We are only halfway through the year and we have already done ten competitions.
July, they took a well-earned breather, before Jack Dean and Emily travelled to Jersey for a GB Talent and Academy training week. Philippa decided to take a break for the moment from competitive shooting, but has taken the opportunity to help with Disability Shooting at Stoke Mandeville, which she is really enjoying. Of course, August, they all watched the Rio 2016 Olympics even while traveling home from their own training events they watched Team GB compete. They all now have their aspirations set firmly on Commonwealth Games 2018 and Tokyo 2020 and are working extremely hard to get there. At the end of August Emily was selected to go to the Junior Nordic Championships in Trollhättan, Sweden. The trip was eventful to say the least, but once she got to the event she had a good time.
Moving on to September, Dean went to Bydgoszcz, Poland to the World University Shooting Championships. Dean did very well making it into the prone rifle final and finishing in seventh place. It was then back to join Jack and Emily to attend the Commonwealth Shooting Federation (European Division) Championships hosted by Wales this year. The CSF(ED) 50m rifle events were held at Tondu Target Shooting Club and the Airgun events were held at Sport Wales National Centre in Cardiff. The Championship events were held over three days, Jack and Dean were in the England Team and Emily competed in the England Development Team. Jack and Dean collected several medals for the England Team, well done. Emily shot well but the development team could not medal as they competed in the competition for the experience.
Now October saw a return of the Welsh Airgun Championships over three days, run in the same way as Intershoot, Netherlands in February. This match was missed in 2015 due to the Rugby World Cup. Great to see its return this year, it is always a great competition and very well run. Jack, Dean and Emily all winning medals, a good result for TeamBale, well done to you all. In October, Jack started the Bundesliga in Germany, this is a fortnightly match and Jack stays with his team in Germany.
Getting to the end of the year with two competitions left to go. One in November, the Surry Airgun open and the last of the year was RIAC in Luxemburg in December. Jack, Dean and Emily all competed in the Surry Airgun Open and Jack took a Gold for 10m Air Rifle. It was then one last competition for Emily, To the RIAC International in Stassen, Luxemburg. This was with a team of athletes selected from the GB Talent Squad, Emily has competed in this competition last year and looked forward to it this year. Emily had a good time at the competition and the Stassen markets.
So, a rest over the holidays and return to training for Emily at Lord Roberts Centre, Bisley and back to the Bundesliga for Jack on the 7th - 8th January 2017. What a busy year, but all the hard work was worth it, well done to you all. We would just like to say thank you to all the Coaches, Team Managers for their help, the volunteers and competition organisers that make it all happen, thank you to you all. See you in 2017.
2015 was a good year for the Bale Team
Year 2015 was a busy year for all the Bale athletes, it started on the first weekend of the year with GB Junior Rifle Squad training and it was to carry on that way.Read on...
In January the first main event was at Bisley at the second stage of British Shooting’s Target Tokyo selection event in which they were looking for potential shooting athletes to progress to the GB Academy Program. Both Dean and Emily made it to the second stage and were selected to go through to stage three in April. January also saw Jack going twice to Dortmund, Germany with the GB Academy for training.At the end of the second training weekend Jack went to Intershoot 2015 at The Hague in Holland early February. Dean and Emily went to Intershoot with the GB Junior Rifle Squad and Philippa went with South East Regional Pistol Squad. All four had a good competition with Jack making three finals and taking a gold and silver medals, setting a new British Junior finals record of 205.3 and Dean making two finals. On the last day Dean was to take gold and Jack taking silver, further details may be found here.
Next, late February was the British Airgun Championships held at Bisley, once again all four were to take part, Dean and Emily in junior air rifle, Philippa in junior air pistol and Jack again entering the competition as a senior. Jack wanted to enter as a senior to take on the best in the country and made the final, but finishing 4th just outside the medals. He did win team gold for England with Dan Rivers and Ken Parr, he also won bronze in the confined match. Dean was to retain his title and trophy making him Junior 10m Air Rifle Champion 2015.
On to Easter weekend and it was to be a weekend in Cardiff at the third and final stage of the Target Tokyo selection. Dean and Emily had made it to this stage which was a two day event shooting both air and small-bore. Dean was to make it through this stage and was invited to join the GB Academy Program, Emily unfortunately didn’t make it this time, but she will be back for selection in the future as she won’t be beaten at this hurdle.
British Free Rifle held at Bisley on the 18th – 19th April which Jack, Dean and Emily have entered the last couple of years is a nice start to the small-bore .22 season. This year was challenging with the weather making it interesting. The wind was not only gusty but very variable in direction. All three entered both prone and 3P (kneeling, prone and standing), but 3P is their preference. Dean was to make it to the 3P final which is always a good final to watch and they have only a short time to change positions and adjust the rifle. Dean won the final with a score of 446.9 his best ever 3P final score and a new British Junior Finals record.
Next stop, Hanover, and to the International Shooting Competition of Hanover. Jack, Dean and Emily had been entered into 3P small-bore matches and into 10m air rifle; this time they did not make the finals, but they all enjoyed the competition. Now back on the airplane to Birmingham Airport, to make it back in time to the ESSU competition at Bisley for the last day and the 3P match.
At the ESSU competition Philippa started on the Saturday with 10m air pistol and then shot sport pistol on the Sunday. In 10m air pistol, Philippa shot 356, giving her 10th overall and 3rd in juniors. Jack, Dean and Emily came back for the last day of the ESSU competition to shoot the 3P match.
Dean was 2nd and Jack came 4th in the qualifying match giving them both a place in the final. Emily shot 551 in the women’s qualifying match to give her 7th and also a place in the final. In the Olympic Final Dean shot 440.2 giving him silver and 2nd place and Jack took bronze and 3rd place, gold and 1st place went to Dan Rivers 0.6 ahead of Dean.
The next match was the British 50m Championships at Bisley, Surrey. This competition is over three days, stating on Friday with the men’s prone eliminator match. Jack and Dean were on first, Dean made it through to the qualifier match, the only junior to do so by finishing 8th in the eliminator match. On Saturday it was an early start for the boys with an 8am call to the line for the men’s 3P match. The match was a challenging one with very bright sun in front. Dean shot well but not at his best with a score of 1132 placing him 3rd and into the final. Jack had to deal with the problem of another competitor firing two cross shots on his target. He dealt with it in his stride and shot 1126 finishing 4th and into the final. Dean and Jack were the only two juniors to make it through to the 3P final, Dean finished the final in 2nd overall and lead junior giving him British Men’s Junior 50m Champion. Emily also had a good shoot and in the prone she finished as lead junior and was to earn the title of British 50m Junior Prone Champion.
Jack went to Pilsen, Czech Republic to the young hopeful’s competition with a team from British Shooting.
Philippa attended Team England Academy trial weekend for selection to join the England Academy and was successful, so she progressed up the ladder into TENS Pistol Academy.
Jack and Dean went to the ISSF Junior Cup in Suhl, Germany. They were both entered into the 10m air rifle, prone and 3P small-bore matches. Whilst the standards were very high, Dean got his place in the 3P final, shooting his final standing string of 99 (x100) and winning on inner tens. This also was a new personal best of 1153.
August was to see them all take part in the Junior International and to take many awards again. There were individual gold and silver medals, team gold and silver medals and across the mixture disciplines, air pistol, air rifle and small-bore rifle. They all brought home medals and had a great week, full of hard work and long days. Jack and Dean were also in two teams that set new Men’s British Junior Team records, one in 50m 3P and one in 50m prone. It was a great competition, thank you to everyone involved.
Jack, Dean and Emily took part in Bisley week competing in the Double English and the 50m 3P on the first weekend. Dean retained the junior 3p cup that he won last year and they won club and county trophies.
There was no Welsh Airgun meeting this year due to the Rugby World Cup, a competition we look forward to attending in 2016.
Emily was put forward by British Shooting for TASS and was awarded it, she now trains at Exeter University with them.
Two competitions in November, one for Jack in Hungry at the Hungarian Open and the others took part in the Surrey Open. Jack was to win gold in the junior air rifle match and in the final he set a new British finals record of 208.3. Emily was to do well at the Surrey Open Women’s Air Rifle match finishing 3rd Bronze medal winner. Dean also did well winning gold medal and the trophy, finishing the final with a 10.4 lead.
Into December and the last competition of the year, a British Shooting selection match at Cardiff. Jack, Dean and Emily were invited and had a good competition, with Jack setting a new 10m Air Rifle Men’s Junior British record of 623.2. A good finish to the year.
After a break over Christmas we start all over again, to improve again on what they have achieved in 2015.
They all travelled out with their teams a few days before the competition so they could be rested and ready for the three day competition which lay ahead.
Day 1 of Intershoot 2015
The first day started on Thursday and began with the Woman and Junior Woman Air Pistol matches; Philippa had a challenging first shoot and ending the qualifier in 14th place but with things to work on.
Next up was Emily competing in the Junior Woman Air Rifle match in the afternoon. Emily shot 402.8 which was below her average and placed her into 17th out of 31. Junior Woman Air Rifle had the highest number of entries, with 31, making it the most challenging final to get into. The standard of shooting this year was also very good, making even the high scores that would normally make the final fall short.
Jack and Dean up next in the Junior Air Rifle qualifier, with both boys competing against each other. Whenever Jack and Dean are in the same match the scores will be good, each one hates to be beaten by the other. Dean scored 603.7 putting him in 9th place just missing the final, but ahead of his team mates. Jack shot better with 605.6 placing him in 7th and into the final. Both Dean and Jack shot below their average on their first day but better was to come. Jack had a difficult start to the final and ended in 4th and just outside of a medal place.
Day 2 of Intershoot 2015
It was an early start for the Junior Woman Air Rifle competitors having the call “athletes to the line” at 7.45am. Even though it was a 5:45 early morning start Emily had another reasonable day and shot 403.0 placing her 17th again but out of 33, so better than the previous day. Again the standards and scores were high. Jack and Dean were next up to the line. Dean started his match with his first string of 103.3 and followed it with a second string of 103.8. Dean maintained this level throughout this qualifying match giving him a total on 617.5, placing him second. Dean’s score from the qualifier match was a new Personal Best (PB) of 617.5 which is a British Shooting Minimum Consideration Score (MCS). Jack also shot well with a score of 613.1, which placed him 4th and a place in the final. Jack was now out to show his younger brother why he's in the GB Academy, so it was going to be an interesting final. Dean had an average final but ended up in 6th even though his last two shots were 10.8 and a 10.9. Jack was looking strong and fighting all the way. It was a close final right up to the last shot, shot 19 Jack was 0.2 behind first place, but he held his nerve and won the Gold Medal by 0.1.
Philippa shot in the afternoon but had a few problems, one of which was a broken blinder, so she tried to use her new glasses, having never used her glasses before it was a whole new experience.
Day 3 of Intershoot 2015
Onto the last day of the competition, all the qualifiers are run in the morning and then the finals in the afternoon. The second shoot of the day was Philippa’s Junior Woman Air Pistol; she had her best shoot of the competition with 350 placing her 9th just outside the final but still below her average. Next up to shoot was Emily; she did not shoot as good as the last two days, but had a word with her coaches and has a few things to work on.
The last qualifying match of Intershoot 2015 was the Junior Men Air Rifle match. Jack this time led the way and shot a qualifying score of 617.8, which was a new PB for Jack and another British Shooting Minimum Consideration Score (MCS). Dean shot well and both boys were through to the final, showdown number two. Dean started very well and took an early lead, with Jack close behind, it was starting to look that the boy’s normal rivalry was back in full force. Dean managed to maintain his lead right to the end with Jack chasing all the way. After the 19th shot and only one shot to go Dean was 1.4 in the lead. With Jack and Dean the last two standing the pressure was on, Dean was to increase the difference on the last shot giving him Gold and Jack Silver with scores of 205.7 and 203.3.
All in all, two Gold Medals, one Silver Medal and two British Shooting’s Minimum Consideration Scores (MCS) the boys did themselves proud. Watching each day's events over the Internet with live scores, finals, webcams and photos was very emotional to see the children on the highs and lows. The children like shooting this competition because it's well run and they get to make new friends from all over the world. A great Intershoot 2015, thank you to all the organisers for another great event, the Bales will be back next year! Jack will be back to try and take Gold on Day 2 for the third year in a row.
This year the Welsh competition took on the format of Friday and Saturday having its own finals each day and then Sunday running as Grand Prix matches. This format is more like the Intershoot competition in the Hague. The other major difference this year to previous years is that matches and finals are all on electronic targets. So the competitors have no more counting of cards to make sure they have the correct amount at the start. It was to be a tiring weekend, with an early start every day for the family as we have both rifle and pistol athletes.
The competition starts with 10m air rifle woman match, Emily was shooting on firing point 12. She was shooting well until she got a flier and came off to see her Great Britain Junior Squad coach (John Saint). She still shot 397.0 and ended the qualifying match in 2nd place and into the final. The final for this match was being shot in the afternoon. It was a close final all the way through, but in the end Emily ended the final in 2nd.
Next to shoot was Jack in the 10m air rifle men's and Dean in the 10m air rifle junior men. Dean was on firing point 13 and his sighters we're not good and avoiding the 10. When the match started Dean had found the 10 and shot a new personal best of 610.7 and in first place for day 1 in the junior men's match and into the final. Jack was on firing point 9 and shooting around his average but this still put him into first place in the senior men 10m air rifle match with a 612.1 and into the final. With Jack and Deans final being run concurrently, it was a nail biting final to watch them both shoot. The junior final results were higher than the seniors and the commentator still compared Jack and Deans scores even though they were in two different finals. It was a great result with Jack and Dean both coming first and taking gold in their finals. In class A, Jack takes the 1st place with Dean close behind in 2nd place for Day 1.
Then there was a change in discipline over to Pistol and the start of Philippa’s 10m air pistol junior match. Philippa was on firing point 21; she shot a 354 which is only 4 points below her personal best. This was a good score because only the previous weekend she had work carried out on her pistol grip. The score placed Philippa into 3rd place in the junior 10m air pistol match for Friday and into 1st place for class C and into the final. Philippa shot well in the final and came out in 3rd place.
The first day for the Bale family went well with all four children getting into finals and coming away in a medal place.
Day two of the competition, was another early start. We got to the Welsh Institute of Sport Centre, at Sophia Gardens early on Saturday as there were concerns about parking at the centre owing to another event being held next door. We managed to get next to the building which was great because of all the kit bags we carry.
Philippa starts off the day of competitions for the Bale family at 10.35am with the second match of the days, 10m air pistol women match. She shot a 350 and again into the final in 6th place. She ended the final still in 6th place.
Next up was Jack and Dean in the 10m air rifle. Jack was unwell after yesterday's match so was not sure how this match was going to go or even if he could finish a full match. But in Jacks normal way he battled through and fought all the way, with his competitive nature he shot a 613.9, which was to put him into the final and 1st in class A. Jack had a good lead at the start of the final but with being unwell he was soon fighting to keep 1st place. On the very last shot Jack managed to keep his position by only 0.1 this was to be a very good result as Jack was very poorly and to be his last match of the Welsh Airgun Competition 2014. Dean had a reasonable 10m air rifle match and shot 603.7 but this was not up to his average, but still placed him first in the junior qualifier. Dean’s sighters for the final we're not good but soon as the match started Dean was on the target and finding the inner 10’s. Dean led the final for the junior men and won the final with a 6.6 lead and a final score of 204.6. Dean may have only had a reasonable qualifying match for him, but was to show how he can perform in the final with a finishing score 204.6, that’s and average of 10.2.
Emily was still trying her new position, which is to stand up straighter. She shot a fairly good qualifier match but Emily would have liked a higher score, she got a 398.1. Emily's final was not up to her normal standard and she went out in 5th place. This was because Emily had not prepared properly for her final as she had watched her brother’s finals. Emily had been worried about Jack being ill and wanted to make sure both Jack and Dean had won their finals. This was to be an expensive mistake; one Emily doesn’t want to repeat.
All in all, still a very good day for all of them. Both Jack and Dean taking gold in both junior men and senior men matches and both Philippa and Emily shooting finals. Saturday matches also were for the team entries, this used the first 40 shots of the match for the team entry. Jack, Dean and Emily were entered as a rifle team called “Team Bale”; Team Bale was to take first place.
On to Sunday, day three of the competition and another early start. Jack did not attend day three as he was too poorly. It was left to Dean, Philippa and Emily to shoot the Grand Prix matches. Grand Prix matches have no Olympic Finals; they are won on the qualifying matches.
First on at 8:45am was men’s and junior men’s rifle matches. So Dean was the first of the Bale family to shoot on day three. Dean had a good shoot, scoring 606.3 and taking gold in junior men. Next up was Emily at 10:50am; Emily was to have her best qualifying match of the weekend scoring 403.7. This score was to place Emily in second place in the junior women’s match.
Philippa was to be the last on at 14:35pm, which was the last match of the Welsh Airgun Competition 2014. Unfortunately, Philippa was also ill with a swollen face and toothache. This was not to stop Philippa and she scored 351 placing her tenth in the junior women’s pistol match.
A good competition again this year, this has always been a good event ever since we have been attending. This year has been made better for the spectator with the use of electronic targets, as the spectators can now see the progress of the matches real time. Well done to the Welsh Airgun Association, looking forward to next year’s event.
The Oldenburg Junior International has taken place for many years and the GB Junior Rifle Squad send a team each year to compete. Dean and Jack have attended this competition several times in the past, but this is the first for Emily. This year Dean and Emily would be part of what was to prove a very strong GB junior rifle team. The competition is both air and small-bore in standing, 3P and prone.
Dean brought home medals from every event he entered. He got individual gold for 3 x 40 (kneeling, prone and standing) with a new personal best of 1126, plus team Gold. He then went on to get individual bronze medal in 10m Men’s Air Rifle, plus team Gold with a new British Junior Men’s team record for this competition of 1801.4. He also helped his team to win a Bronze medal for the 50m Rifle match.
Emily had a great few days competing like her brother. First were the Ladies 10m Air Rifle which she took individual gold and team gold with a new British Ladies Junior team record for this competition of 1196.5. Emily also won team gold for 3P Match (kneeling, prone and standing) this was a 3 x 20 match. Emily has been shooting small-bore for less than twelve months, so the performance she put up was great. Emily also won team gold in 50m Prone Rifle.
This year the GB Junior Rifle Squad had a very strong team and was to take a large number of medals and Emily was to be awarded the Best Shooter of the Competition.
This is a very good competition which the GB Junior Team greatly enjoys and this year was no exception. Dean and Emily would like to thank the GB Junior Rifle Squad Support Team for all the hard work they did to help the team succeed. They had a great time and are looking forward to next year’s Oldenburg Junior International.
