The final day of The Ashes 2.0 (technically 2nd day but 3rd day of shooting after the Welsh Open) dawned cooler than the preceding days and with a steady right wind. The 1000x shoot saw Rob Lygoe, emerging from wherever he had been hiding to post an impressive 75.13, followed by Silke Lohmann on 75.12 and Harriet Nuttall on 75.11. Although the wind was steady, it had hidden pockets to catch out the unwary, with only 5 possibles at 1000x.
1100x was the final distance of the Ashes pre the Grand Final, with the composition of the final 5 and the top Lady hotly contested. With the wind building throughout both details conditions proved trickier and allowed some movement in the rankings. Ashley Abrahams top scored at 1100x with a 75.10 to make it into the final 5, with Harriet Nuttall edging Silke Lohmann by 2 points to take the Ladies Trophy. Tim Brooking won the handicap score and Thomas Nightingale took top u25.
With travel arrangements forcing the retirement of Ron Scaglione, the 5 shooters in the Grand Final of 0+10 to count at 1200x was, in order, Mike Buchanan, Jon Sweet, Nick Tremlett, Ashley Abrahams and Tim Brooking. All competitors had to shoot their first 5 shots before scores were tallied and called out. Thereafter it progressed shot by shot for the next 5 shots with current standings loudly announced to all after each shot.
The scoreboard team seemed remarkably challenged with things such as spelling and pronunciation of names and even basic arithmetic in one instance, but this only added to the enjoyment. The GB captain’s name having at least 4 discernible pronunciations (Mr Tumbles being a particular highlight). The Buchanan failed to follow the honourable example as his fellow countryman had set in the Ashes 1.0 Grand Final and selfishly put all shots on his own target for a very impressive 49.6 to take the win by 7 points. Despite much heckling and one competitor needing to use 3 batches of ammo to complete his shoot, the rankings after 10 shots remained unchanged from how it had started.
After the laughter settled down from the Grand Final it was on the the Teams competition. Of those who had participated in the Grand Final, only one, Jon Sweet, carried that form over into the team shoot but alas was not able to overcome the team of Ashley Abrahams, John Pugsley, Harriet Nuttall and Hattie Mansell and A.N. Average who won with a handicap score of 359, 3 points clear of 2nd place.
With The Ashes 2.0 drawing to a close, our thanks goes to all those who helped organise and run the competition. Hopefully next year, their hard work will not be needed as we return to shoot The Hopton.