For Drew Christie it was sweet moment knowing he was in a shoot off for a guaranteed Gold or Silver, having narrowly missed out on a medal with fourth place in the Skeet in Delhi in 2010.
An impressive qualification saw the 34-year-old from Dundee finish third equal behind Australia’s Paul Adams and eventual Gold medallist Georgios Achilleos, dropping only five clays in a run of form over the two days.
This form continued into a tight semi-final where little separated the six shooters but, with Christie keeping his cool to shoot his last seven without missing a bird, this was the edge needed to put him through to the shoot off for Gold.
A solid start for Christie saw his first three clays giving him an early lead over the Cypriot, before his form seemed to disappear with three consecutive misses. From then on Christie only managed three more hits in the remaining 13 clays whilst Achilleos put in a faultless performance to score a total 14 to Christie’s six and claim Gold.
For Christie the final was a bit of a blur. “I don’t remember the last of the Final,” said Christie. “It felt right but it just wasn’t right.”
But that didn’t take away from the excitement. “Gold would have been brilliant, but Silver is just as good,” said the local Shooting Instructor. “At Delhi it would have been good to win a medal but at a home Games is brilliant.”
There was also a medal for Full Bore shooters Ian Shaw and Angus McLeod who won Bronze in the Fullbore Rifle Pairs on a rain-swept Barry Buddon, where England took Gold and Canada Silver.
“The field is incredibly strong here so we’re shooting against the best in the world,” said Shaw. “The winners shot out of their skins. We knew they weren’t going to make many mistakes. It’s a good result and we’re very pleased.”
“I’m glad I came here and got a result,” added McLeod.
The pair now face each other in the coming days in the Individual competition which starts tomorrow.
Elsewhere it was disappointment for Jen McIntosh who was knocked out in the early stages of the 10m Air Rifle elimination final after a day where she never really found form. For younger sister Seonaid, who bowed out in the qualification stage in the same event, her first Games was an experience to remember.
“It’s been amazing. It’s really big,” said the 18-year-old. “I now know what the rest of the family have been going through.”
Elsewhere on the ranges, in Men’s 10m Air Pistol Alan Ritchie and David Owen didn’t make finals despite consistent shooting and in the Women’s 25m Pistol, Caroline Brownlie also failed to progress.

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