Day 1, 12 September 2009
Today the super squads shot stages 7 through 10, and passed the chrono testing. that went well for all the front runner on our squad, although Todd was breathing a little heavy after passing the chrono at just 165.4. Good enough.
It is HOT on the range. Today temperatures were about 40c, about 110f. The sun can really burn you out there, but luckily the humidity is really low, so it is not as bad as it would otherwise be.
The range is very large, long distances between some of the stages. And very dusty. luckily the wind stayed down all day, so that was not too bad.
On the Open Super Squad it seems Max has taken the early lead and it the man to beat. He is shooting very smoothly and with confidence, not pushing too hard, and not putting a single foot wrong. the rest of us are just trying to hang on, with JJ and KC probably close behind.
I lost ground on the first stage, were a Texas-Star really did not go my way and cost me some valuable time. Oh well, it is a long match, and we are just 4 stages in. we will see how things develop.
Will try to update again tomorrow.
Saul
- Todd on stage 7:
www.facebook.com/video/video.php
Day 3, 14 September 2009
Turns of fortunes on day three at the top of the Open standings...
We started on stage 16 this say - a tough stages due to long distance targets and the fact that ALL targets were partially covered by no-shoot targets. in fact, this entire match has more partials and no-shoots than full size targets - by far. very easy indeed to pick up penalties.
Well, that is just what happened to Max Michel, who had been shooting really well until that point, in fact shooting a near perfect 2nd day, and building a very solid lead. he looked sure to win. But on stage 16 things went terribly wrong for max, and he picked up a bunch of penalties, effectively zeroing the stage, and allowing the others to close the gap.
On of those shooting better and batter and closing on the lead, was Chris Tilley. Chris, who has proven before he can challenge for the match win was holding on with the leaders until our last stage of the day. this was a 22 rounds stage, and a very fast one. we had to move down a narrow lane shooting rather big targets left and right. JJ set the fastest time on this stage at just 7.90 sec - so the hit factor was through the roof! over 12 - which means 1 second is worth 12 points on this stage. A high hit factor stage is the last place you want to have a bad jam - and that is just what happened to Chris. His 5 second jam, which forced him to drop 2 mags which cleaning it let him with a round short to complete the stage - so a miss in a addition to a ton of point dropped due to the lost time. A real tough break for Chris.
So - we go into the last day, with JJ in the lead, KC up there as well, and possibly also Jojo and Shannon Smith from another squad.
I'm off to the range.
Saul
Day 4, 15 September 2009
well the match is over now, the results are in. And what a finish it was!
Max, who was far ahead in the early stages, seemed to have thrown it all away, and JJ or KC looked to be sure to win. but - Max is again the US champion.
It all came down to the last stage - stage 6 - a big 27 round stage, with 2 dropout targets and a swinger, and some distance. with the normal assortment of no-shoots...
JJ went in leading by 25 points or more, only to have his gun jam badly after a few shots. It took him 4 seconds or more to get it up and running - and by that time he was so rushed, he ran through too fast, and shot a miss no shoot to boot! Giving Max the lead.
KC was still in with a good chance, and was last to shoot. All he needed was a clean run - but it was not to be. He had a few extra shots, and a no-shoot on the the very last target - enough to let Max, who shoot a good solid stage, to win the overall.
So Max took top spot, followed by KC, JJ, Shannon Smith, Saul kirsch, Henning walgrenn and Todd Jarrett rounding up the top 6.
Tomorrow we start our trip back to Europe. it's been a great match, and a fun visit to Vegas, but now I am more than ready to be heading home.
Wishing you all excellent shooting,
Saul Kirsch
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- This is amazing, look at what has happened on stage 5 (one in a million!):
www.youtube.com/watch
Lucky we got it on tape :-)
Eli.
