Shooting: Medal haul well below target

A solitary bronze is all New Zealand can show for three days of Commonwealth Games shooting, as more near-misses yesterday blighted a campaign looking unlikely to match expectation.

With nearly half the Games shooting medals decided, the New Zealanders appear unlikely to challenge the 12-medal target set by Government funding agency Sparc.

There was a bright moment when Juliet Etherington and Kathyrn Mead became New Zealand's 500th medallists at all British Empire and Commonwealth Games thanks to their bronze in the 50m prone rifle pairs on Saturday.

However, a host of other better-known shooters have been below their best, including defending women's double trap pairs champions Nadine Stanton and Teresa Borrell, who were fourth and last yesterday.

Acting chief executive of the New Zealand Shooting Federation Tony Waymouth wasn't pushing the panic button yet. He said many shooters were producing better scores than at the 2002 Manchester Games where New Zealand won six medals. The opposition had improved notably.

"A number of times we've been right up there until the back end of the event," said Waymouth.

"We're there or thereabouts so we're waiting for some conversion. We've just got to keep shooting."

A breakdown of the 16 events involving New Zealand shooters so far shows a return of two third placings, three fourths, two fifths, five sixths and three sevenths.

Stanton and Borrell's third in the women's trap pairs on Friday didn't earn a medal as only gold was on offer.

With Borrell having an off day yesterday, their result in the double was a far cry from the Manchester triumph. They finished 12 points off the bronze and well behind English winners Charlotte Kerwood and Rachel Parish.

Jason Wakeling and Alan Earle were fourth in the 25m rapid fire pistol pairs, shooting a combined 1101. Outstanding Indians Vijay Kumar and Pempa Tamang were in a league of their own with 1134.

Sheryl Glass and Sally Johnston were fifth in the women's 50m rifle 3 positions pairs event courtesy of a 1128 score while Andrea Bald and Jocelyn Lees were sixth in the women's 10m air pistol with 736 points.

Brian Carter and John Snowden began strongly but ended seventh in the open full bore pairs.

Even Etherington and Mead felt they could have done better.

- NZPA