Miniature Rifles . . .

V.U.C. Win I.C.I. Shield

This is an especially commendable effort as only two members had had previous Tournament experience, R. Hardwick-Smith and X. D. Blackburn.

At the end of the second round, A.U.C.. Massey and C.U.C. led with 23 points down, while V.U.C. Lincoln and Otago followed. But in the third round, which was really the deciding round of the competition, D. Myers, of Massey, dropped ten points. The reason was that his back aperture had slightly shifted. This shook his apparently imperturable calm, and in the remaining cards he dropped a total of seven points.

Otago therefore won the Plunket Shield, much to the delight of R. Hardwick-Smith, who was an Otago Blue of 1952. The shield was duly and solemnly presented, along, with the other trophies, on the night of the Tournament Ball. As can be seen, the separation in points between first and last teams was not great, and this also typified the individual scores.

Miss Hair. Brian Bradburn and Robin Hardwick-Smith must be congratulated in making the North Island team, which duly beat the South Island and Bradburn and Hardwick-Smith were chosen for the N.Z.U. shoot against Auckland. This was won by the Universities by 17 points—one of the few events in which N.Z.U. defeated an Auckland representative team. Hardwick-Smith got the best score of both teams and also was awarded an N.Z.U. Blue.

W. Iles shooting improved as the shield contest progressed, and his last two cards as emergency for the North Island team were both possibles. D. Roy. another first-season shot, who had throughout the season maintained a consistently high standard, was unlucky in the I.C.I. Shield. This was his first Tournament shoot, and it is probable that the strain affected his shooting.