Head to head race between Zurich and Geneva
09/03/22
Podium: 1. Stadtschützen Zürich; 2. Harquebus 1; 3. Société de tir Les Carabiniers Lausanne.
The pistol shooters held the semi-finals and the final of the Swiss Group Championship Pistol 25m in the Guntelsey in Thun in weather conditions that were not particularly easy.
After the three preliminary rounds, which took place between May and July, around 20 groups from all over Switzerland were able to qualify for the semi-finals and the final. 18 groups took part. In addition to well-known groups such as the Genève Arquebuse, the Rüschegg-Gambach BE pistol shooters and the Schützengesellschaft der Stadt Zürich, there were also new participants at the start, such as the Neckertal SG marksmen, who qualified for the first time.
The competition consisted of two rounds: in the precision round, three series of five shots were fired in five minutes each. In the rapid-fire run, three series of five shots each, with the target visible for three seconds and turned away for seven seconds.
All open in the semifinals
Although everything was still open after the precision run, Genève Arquebuse 1, Niederweningen and St. Flecken-St. Gallen as favourites.
While the top ranks were clear pretty soon after the rapid fire, the bottom ranks were still really fighting for the finals, because only the first ten groups can make it into the final. When all four detachments were over, groups 10 and 11 were tied: The points group of the Zunzgen-Tenniken shooting club and the Société de tir au pistols Bulle-Grevîre with 1106 each. But the corresponding regulations also have a solution for this: Bei Equal points are decided by the sum of the last, second last and third last series of five of all group shooters. In this case, that meant the sum of the rapid-fire cycles. With that, the ranks were clear: the shooting club Zunzgen-Tenniken moved ahead of Bulle-Gervîre in the group championship final pistol 25m.
suspense to the end
In contrast to the semi-finals, two participants in a group always competed simultaneously in the final, so that the total time was halved. However, that didn’t make the competition any less exciting. After the precision run, the groups Société de tir Les Carabiniers Lausanne, the rifle club of the city of Zurich, and Exercices de l’Arquebuse et la Navigation Genève 1 started the rapid-fire run in that order. The final result shows that everything can still change in this phase. While the Arquebuse 1 group was in the lead for a long time, the Stadtschützen Zürich were able to overtake the group from Geneva in the final relays. After a head-to-head race and a few weapon malfunctions that resulted in a margin, the group from the city of Zurich was able to take home the gold medal (1035 points), among other things. Silver went to Exercices de l’Arquebuse et la Navigation Genève 1 with 1032 points and bronze to Société de tir Les Carabiniers Lausanne also with 1032 points. The special prizes were allocated by lot; she went to Zunzgen-Tenniken, Niederweningen and Neckertal. The three youngest participants were also awarded a wreath card: Alicia Ambrosini (born 2006, Schmitten-Flamatt), Lukas Durrer (born 2002, Sarnen) and Ramona Roppel (born 2001, Zunzgen-Tenniken). The prizes were donated by Arquebuse Genève.
places for the youngsters
What put a damper on the final: Of the 20 qualified groups, only 18 took part; the other two had to sign off at short notice. It would therefore be desirable if those who had become free were given to other club members – especially young people. (Charlene Jaggli)