{"id":1640,"date":"2023-03-16T08:25:20","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T08:25:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/englishtwenty.org.uk\/sakenya2023\/?p=1640"},"modified":"2023-03-16T08:25:21","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T08:25:21","slug":"day-17-a-grand-day-of-reckoning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/englishtwenty.org.uk\/sakenya2023\/2023\/03\/16\/day-17-a-grand-day-of-reckoning\/","title":{"rendered":"Day 17 \u2013 A \u201cGrand\u201d Day of Reckoning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Monday 13th<\/sup> March marked the official opening of the 86th<\/sup> SA Bisley Open Championships, requiring a seriously early rise at 05:30am, to ensure that we were all present for the ceremony and customary \u2018raising\u2019 of the national and club flags.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once General Mac had said a few words and we had joined in prayers, \u201cHattie\u201d (Harriet) was our chosen representative to raise the \u2018St. George\u2019s Cross\u2019 flag, alongside those from South Africa, Great Britain, USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, British Army, RAF and some provisional SA clubs. Seeing over a dozen flags flapping in the wind at 7am this morning truly reminded us of the competition ahead and enabled us to all channel our focus towards delivering high performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a beautiful morning, where we competed in the \u2018Free State Cup\u2019 at 300 and 600m, followed by the Kings Norton Cup at 600m. All of these shoots now form part of the Grand Aggregate, where the fishtail wind throughout the morning lead us to each have moments of delight and disappointment, with direction and strength of the wind changing rapidly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top scorer for the Free State Cup was Lucinda (despite nursing a heavy stomach ache) with an outstanding 50.4, 55.4, totalling 105.8, with Tom Shaw following closely behind with 104.6. Jumbo delivered a 50.4 to lead the Kings Norton Cup for England, with Ant on 49.7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the afternoon, as the sun was really starting to intensify the range conditions, this was our first of a series of smaller \u2018England matches\u2019, with teams of 6 and one coach. We entered three teams in the Dewar Shield \u2013 North London, England 1 and England 2, coached by Adam, Rupert R. and Harriet, giving us further opportunity to refine the shooter\/coach pairings in preparation for the two big matches later in the week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The match helped us get a little more shooter \/ coach time and lay the foundations for a similar format tomorrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We then headed back to the hotel to recharge, everyone in need of an early night!<\/p>\n\n\n

Photo Gallery Slideshow<\/h2>