Czech Republic -(FirearmsGuide.com)- At the end of September, the Choltice chateau became the hosting place for the Hunter Field Target (HFT) Championships. More than 150 shooters from Poland, Great Britain, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic were able to show their skills on two lanes in the Open, Ladies, Junior, Recoiling and Veteran (over 60) categories, there was also a collective event for national teams comprising of six members each.
The Alfa lane took the contestants mainly to woodland, although some targets were located in a meadow and there were also places where shooting at a downward angle was required. The Bravo lane focused on optical illusions, shooting around obstacles, and shooting across water. The trophy was a steel model of the Czech lion awarded to the following winners: Matej Grega (Slovakia, Junior category), Slawomir Opiela (Poland, Recoiling), Martina Krausová (Czech Republic, Ladies) and Eugeniusz Sadowski (Poland, Veteran).
In the most coveted Open category, the gold medal went to Václav Sejpka (Czech Republic), who also became the European Champion. Gavyn Jones (GB) took silver and another Czech, Dušan Mandát, came third.
In the national team event, the home team reigned supreme (Sejpka, Mandat, Pusztai, Růžičková, Bradáč, Houdek), Great Britain came second and the third place went to Poland.
As the main sponsor of the event, Česká zbrojovka a.s. (CZ) presented its product portfolio there and donated four rifles to the tombola.
HFT, or Hunter Field Target, is a relatively new outdoor shooting discipline. Using an air rifle, the shooter must hit a falling target that is placed at various distances (7.3 – 41 m) from the shooting point. Falling targets are made of sheet metal and each has a hole called the kill zone. When hit, the mechanism is released and the target falls. If the target is hit outside the kill zone, there is a characteristic clinking sound and the target remains standing up. Only one shot is fired at each target, the score is 2 points for hitting the kill zone and 1 point for hitting the other parts of the target.