Clay shooting champs return to PE after 16 years

This is the biggest tournament on the national calendar

AFTER a 16-year absence, the Chairman’s Cup clay target shooting championship returns to Port Elizabeth this weekend.

The host will be the Port Elizabeth Clay Target Club at its facility on the Draaifontein Road at St Albans.

The competition will take place tomorrow and Sunday and is set to feature eight provinces (excluding North West) with Gauteng to be represented by teams from North and South Gauteng.

National colours will only be awarded to shooters who have competed abroad or an international shoot in South Africa.

“This is the biggest tournament on the national calendar,” Eastern Province Clay Target Shooting Association chairman Andre Nagel said.

The Chairman’s Cup is a provincial competition where the top three shooters in each province compete in a discipline. There are four disciplines – Trap, Trench, Skeet and Sporting.

There are three team members per discipline and 12 members in each provincial team.

Each competitor will compete over 150 targets.

The 16-year absence from Port Elizabeth is due to a requirement that the tournament be held in a different province each year, and with each province hosting it every eight years.

“The last tournament we hosted in the Eastern Cape was eight years ago at the clay shooting club in Graaff-Reinet ,” Nagel said.

“A lot of the provinces rotate venues within their regions so that the sport can reach other parts of the country.”