Grauffel wins AustralAsia shooting championship
Rita A. Widiadana and Wahyoe Boediwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Sanur, Bali
Eric Grauffel of France lived up to his status as the world champion by winning the AustralAsia Practical Shooting Championship here on Wednesday.
Trailing in second place behind Martin Kamanicek of the Czech Republic when entering the day's competition, the world champion scored a total of 1857.1059 points in the Open Division after completing 24 stages.
Errol Thomas of Australia took second place with 1808.3752 points while Philippine shooter Stephen Hinojales finished in third place with 1711.0254 points.
Around 500 shooters from 32 countries competed in the event. The event was divided into four categories: Open, Revolver, Standard and Production.
As many as 134 competitors took part in the Open Division, considered the most prestigious.
Indonesian hopeful Roy Haryanto ended up in fourteenth place after scoring 1490.4541 points. Seventh place proved to be the best Indonesian shooters could achieve through Glen Clifton Apfel, who scored 1345.8357 points in the Revolver category.
"I am very happy to win the game," exclaimed Grauffel, who is scheduled to give a coaching clinic to Indonesian shooters in Tohpati, Sanur, around 15 kilometers south of Denpasar.
The AustralAsia Practical Shooting competition, being held on Serangan Island off Bali from Nov. 27 through Dec. 4, was categorized as a Level IV competition since it involved top shooters from around the world.
"It is the first Level IV shooting competition held in Indonesia since the country became a member of the International Practical Shooting Confederation (IPSC)." said David D. Budiman from Indonesia's IPSC.
In the Standard Division, Michael Voigt from the United States won the title with a total score of 1837.3189 points. Fabian Scott from South Africa grabbed second place with 1686.6788 points and Spanish shooter Juan Carlos Jaime took third place with 1678.6728 points.
Adam Tyc of the Czech Republic won the Production Division with 1826.8814 points followed by Angus Hobdell of the United States with 1700.1646 points, and Ernest Nagy of Slovakia with 1559.1123 points.
Czech shooters dominated the Revolver Division with Zdenek Nemecek topping the standings with 1810.1138 points and Lumir Sasranek finishing in third place with 1519.0583 points. Phillip Chua of the Philippines took second place with 1710.4004 points.
The event will continue with a three-day shotgun competition starting Thursday.
Correction: In the story titled 'Grauffel ...' on page 10 of the Dec. 1 edition, the first paragraph should have read: "World champion Eric Grauffel of France was trailing in second place after completing 16 stages in the AustralAsia Practical Shooting Championship on Tuesday." We deeply regret the mistakes.
-- Editor