I finished the two qualification events in 2nd place behind Sylvain Ouellette (last year's National 10m Champion). My scores for the 2 days were 560 and 563, the latter being the highest score shot in the Men's 10m event that day. Sylvain shot a 565 on the first day. Solid!
Unfortunately after Finals I dropped down to 7th. This was my first time shooting the new Finals format which is definitely a lot more challenging than before. The format before took the top 8 shooters after the qualification relays and then added 10 more shots to their qualification total for an aggregate score. This usually resulted in few changes in the leader board. The new format however zero's out the top 8 finalists and they start over shooting 3 shots, then another 3, then 2 more with the person in last being eliminated, then 2 more shots and then another elimination. This goes on until there is only 1 person standing. Fun to watch as a spectator!
I'm definitely taking away some learnings from this event and will definitely add some "Finals" training into my schedule. It's one thing being able to go for the endurance of a full 60 shot match but it's a different beast to shoot the Finals with elimination threats after each of the 2 shot series.
The 50m event which I've been spending a bit more time is on Wed-Thu with open practice tomorrow evening. More updates to come!
