CHAPLOW STANDS SUPREME! - Krieghoff

KRIEGHOFF DTL CLASSIC
THE EYES HAVE IT –
PAUL CHAPLOW IS
FOCUSED ON VICTORY.
AND SO TO THE FINAL
ACT: CHAPLOW AND
ALLEN HEAD-TO-HEAD.
COULD TOMMY BE THE
FIRST MAN TO HAVE HIS
NAME ON THE TROPHY
A SECOND TIME?
A record entry and a record number of
100/300s — once again the Krieghoff
Classic 500 delivered a feast of DTL
competition. As ever, there were tales of
triumph and disaster and a veritable
encyclopaedia of ifs, buts and maybes, but
in the end only one winner. He came close
in 2005, winning the 500 target aggregate
prize and this year Paul Chaplow took the
big one — the coveted specially engraved
Krieghoff K-80 and the sponsorship
package to go with it.
He also became the eighth different
shooter to get his name engraved on the
14 CLAY SHOOTING
CHAPLOW
STANDS
SUPREME!
RICHARD RAWLINGSON REPORTS FROM MID WALES ON ANOTHER
DRAMATIC WEEKEND OF DOWN THE LINE SHOOTING
giant beer stein — no one has yet won this
magnificent trophy twice — although, just
as last year, it was so near but so far for the
runner up.
Sunday night’s twilight drama seemed
a long way off however when competition
got under way on Thursday with the gentle
‘warm up’ 50 DTL and 50 Doubles. In fact
this was already serious stuff as there were
many with the bonus for the 500 aggregate
score in their sights and caravans had been
rolling into Mid Wales since the beginning
of the week. Friday is the day when the top
shots look to bring their game to a fine
edge and the Eley 100 attracted over 320
entries and delivered a massive prize
payout. The top money went to Dave Toomer
with the only 100/300 of the day — a big
win for sure but had he peaked too soon?
Lurking just behind him on Friday on
299 was new World Champion John
Stafford, a man who so dearly wants to win
this competition having got so close on
several occasions. He looked to be moving
through the gears sweetly and so it proved
on Saturday morning as he showed
champion class to put the magic 300 on
the board. Despite morning rain,

…WHAT A SHOCK THEN
WHEN THE CHAMPION
MISSED HIS VERY FIRST BIRD
OUT WITH BOTH BARRELS!
IF YOU’RE IN IT, YOU WIN IT!
conditions were benign and it seemed
inevitable that more would follow. Fellow
Lancastrian Bob Singleton added another,
continuing the tradition of shooters posting
their first straight at this event. Although
an England international, Bob had never
reached DTL’s pinnacle before.
No such first time nerves though for
numbers three and four. Nigel Chapman
and 2003 winner Tommy Allen have been
there, done it and got a cupboard full of Tshirts
and we had the prospect of a high
Emma Wheeldon’s magnificent performance highlighted an important difference between Clay
Shooting Classic competitions and CPSA championships. All our competitions are shot strictly in
classes and the prizes for Ladies, Juniors and Veterans are additional to the main prize fund and
provided by the sponsors. Our rule is simple: if you qualify and shoot the highest score, then you
win the prize — you do not have to nominate which category you wish to compete in. Emma
therefore won both the Ladies and Junior High Gun prizes as well as her prize money for seventh
place in AA class.
class Saturday shoot off ahead of us. Bets
were being struck on how many targets it
would take to find a winner and after his
KRIEGHOFF DTL CLASSIC
heroics in Australia, few were laying odds
against Stafford.
What a shock then when the champion
missed his very first bird out with both
barrels! Whether it was the butterflies, or
just the effect of a long afternoon waiting
to go back on the peg, another chance was
gone. “He jumped three feet over the top
of it,” said referee Nigel Bough to me
afterwards.
Chapman was the next to crack, a
halved bird followed by another to leave
him hoping for a miracle. Singleton though
seemed unfazed by the occasion, matching
Allen shot for shot. Alas, it would not last;
a single lapse on the final peg left the
Ulsterman the only one standing. Just one
line was all it took and the crowd streamed
off to pack every bar and restaurant for
miles around Trefeglwys.
TONS GALORE
As John Twigg showed so dramatically last
year, the beauty of the Krieghoff format is
that Sunday is always another day. Those

who had crashed and burned on Saturday
could still dream of the gun, while all those
who were high on the leader board after the
first day knew there was serious prize
money to be won in every class.
Professional golfers call Sunday ‘pay day’
and that’s how it is in this competition too,
with cash down to 10th place.
Kind conditions promised another day
of high scoring and soon the massive score
board erupted in a rash of red numbers
and the first to bring home a 300 was
junior Will Marshall from Leicestershire,
shooting in his first Krieghoff and recording
his first ‘maximum’. Several
knowledgeable judges had been speaking
about his potential, few expected it to be
realised quite so soon!
300 number two came up shortly
afterwards and it will surprise no one in the
Southwest that it came from the everconsistent
Tony Dore. One of the steadiest
shooters on the circuit, he made full use of
the conditions. So too did Richard Hails
from Suffolk, adding another unfancied
name to the long list of Krieghoff dark
horses. A solid A class shot, he too was in
unfamiliar waters.
As part of the presentations,
Peter Brass of Krieghoff
presented Alan Rhone with a
specially engraved K-80
forging to mark his 10th
anniversary as Krieghoff
distributor and in recognition
of his part in making the
Krieghoff Classic the huge
success it has become.
NIGEL CHAPMAN’S
HOPES WERE BLOWN
AWAY IN THE
SATURDAY FINAL.
KRIEGHOFF DTL CLASSIC
THE KRIEGHOFF 500
John Stafford had some consolation for
missing out on the super final by taking the
£500 bonus prize for the top score ex 500
targets. His talent with two targets in the
air proved crucial as he won both the
opening 50 bird Doubles competition and
the Friday 100 bird event to hold off Darren
Newton’s challenge.
BOB SINGLETON
PUSHED TOMMY
ALLEN ALL THE WAY
ON SATURDAY NIGHT.
Hard luck stories abounded. Irishman
Gerry McCoy posted his second 299 of the
weekend, as did the much fancied Ian
Mullarkey. Another 299 put the Ladies
World Champion Emma Wheeldon
agonisingly close, but this youngster is
really raising the bar for her rivals. She
enjoyed a very fruitful weekend.
Cruising along nicely was another at
the top of his game – Paul Chaplow. He
became 300 number four and there was
just time for another debut straight to
complete our shoot off squad. Lumberjack
Elwin Biddulph flew the flag for Wales, the
former team captain clearly delighted to
have reached the mark on home soil.
This time the shoot off did go beyond
the first line, Dore and Biddulph dropping
out after 25 targets. Marshall though
continued to impress, showing no nerves
as he matched his senior rivals. Eventually
though he faltered as we reached single
barrel sudden death, leaving Hails to fly
the flag for the underdogs. He too had to
CLAY SHOOTING 17

KRIEGHOFF DTL CLASSIC
give best, however, as Chaplow middled
every bird, shooting at a steady pace like a
man on a mission.
And so to the final act: Chaplow and
Allen head-to-head. Could Tommy be the
first man to have his name on the trophy a
second time? It was not to be. In fading
light the smoothness from the previous
evening had gone and three halved birds
gave Chaplow a cushion he did not need.
Again all 25 targets were middled and the
Yorkshireman added another big win to his
rapidly growing list of achievements and
another K-80 now resides in his cabinet
alongside the gun he used to do it.
Full results can be found at
www.krieghoff.co.uk
RESULTS
2006 CHAMPION
PAUL CHAPLOW
RUNNER UP
TOM ALLEN
AA
1. G. McCOY 200/598
2. I. MULLARKEY 200/598
3. I. WILLIAMS 200/597
A
1. W. LOGAN 200/596
2. S.GENNARD 200/595
3. W.MARSHALL 199/595
B
1. R.GILLSON 198/588
2. S. JOHNSTON 198/588
3. S. GAFFNEY 98/587
C
1. J.ROBERTS 196/581
2. D. RICKETTS 195/578
3. B. ROSS 196/577
LADIES
1. E. WHEELDON 199/596
2. V. BOWERING 198/585
3. A. DUPREE 197/582
JUNIORS
1. E. WHEELDON 199/596
2. W. MARSHALL 199/595
3. J. CLARKE 200/594
VETERANS
1. W.LOGAN 200/596
2. E. DAVIES 198/592
3. J. WINN 199/592
SHOOTING
AA CLASS.
A CLASS.
JUNIORS.
C CLASS.
ABOVE: RUNNER UP TOMMY ALLEN.
RIGHT: BIG TROPHY – BIG MAN!
B CLASS.
VETERANS.
EVERY ONE A WINNER! ALL THE CLASS LEADERS.
LADIES.