Varsity - pistol

Shooting ranks amongst Cambridge’s oldest varsity sports and has links dating back to at least 1803 with the formation of the Cambridge University Rifle Volunteers. The University Revolver club was formed in 1902 and forged close links with the rifle club in 1909 which itself had been established as a University club two years earlier. The first revolver (full-bore) varsity match between Oxford and Cambridge took place in 1908 at the NRA Imperial meet and was officially incorporated into the programme in 1909. The pistol (small-bore) Varsity match was established in 1960 (now shot on air pistols) and has become the main focus of the inter University pistol competitions. The match is usually shot on a full or half ‘standard pistol’ course of fire (5 shots in 150 seconds, 5 shots in 20 seconds, 5 shots in 10 seconds; 2 or 4 times).

Notable CURPC alumni include Tony Chivers, 5th in the 1964 Olympics, and Geoff Robinson, Olympic 1984 World Champion 1979, National Squad 1973-1992 and several others who have shot for their respective home countries at smaller international championships. The club also fields an active team of national or county level shooters.

An incomplete list of club captains is as follows: 2010-11 Vin Shen Ban (Christs), 2009-10 James M. R. Bullock (Clare), 2008-09 Daniel Kumbang (Queens), 2007-08 Cheng Liu (Gonville & Caius), 2006-07 Xueni Zhu (New Hall), 2005-06 Nicole Taylor (Jesus), 1996-97 Beatrix von Meier (Girton), 1995-96 Stuart J. Ince (Sidney Sussex), 1994-95 Graham Simpson (Girton), 1993-94 Eryl T. Done (Girton), 1992-93 Mike Marrison (Downing), 1991-92 Aidan Gibson.

Below is listed the available results and match reports from the Varsity Matches. Older match reports and scores are available from the club archives in Elizabeth Way, the Cambridge University Library and the NRA museum library.

Small-bore Varsity past results:

2010	Oxford	2139	Cambridge	2041
2009	Oxford	2077	Cambridge	2088
2008	Oxford	2166	Cambridge	2084
2007	Oxford	2144	Cambridge	2156
2006	Oxford	2150	Cambridge	1951
2005	Oxford	2098	Cambridge	2104
2004	Oxford	2101	Cambridge	2046
2003	Oxford		Cambridge
2002	Oxford	1962	Cambridge	1992
2001	Oxford	1984	Cambridge	1900
2000	Oxford		Cambridge
1999	Oxford		Cambridge
1998	Oxford		Cambridge
1997	Oxford		Cambridge
1996	Oxford	2011	Cambridge	2097
1995	Oxford	1958	Cambridge	2069
1994	Oxford		Cambridge
1993	Oxford	2025	Cambridge	2000
1992	Oxford	2146	Cambridge	2051
1991	Oxford	2009	Cambridge	1911
1990	Oxford	2081	Cambridge	1885
1989	Oxford	1799	Cambridge	1626
1988	Oxford		Cambridge
1987	Oxford		Cambridge
1986	Oxford	746	Cambridge	692
1985	Oxford	725	Cambridge	699
1984	Oxford	694	Cambridge	694
1983	Oxford		Cambridge
1982	Oxford		Cambridge
1981	Oxford	714	Cambridge	721
1980	Oxford		Cambridge
1979	Oxford	559	Cambridge	574
1978	Oxford	704	Cambridge	649
1977	Oxford		Cambridge
1976	Oxford		Cambridge
1975	Oxford		Cambridge
1974	Oxford		Cambridge
1973	Oxford		Cambridge
1972	Oxford		Cambridge
1971	Oxford		Cambridge
1970	Oxford		Cambridge
1969	Oxford		Cambridge
1968	Oxford		Cambridge
1967	Oxford		Cambridge
1966	Oxford		Cambridge
1965	Oxford		Cambridge
1964	Oxford		Cambridge
1963	Oxford		Cambridge
1962	Oxford		Cambridge
1961	Oxford		Cambridge
1960	Oxford		Cambridge

Small-bore Varsity match reports:

2010

This year’s spring Varsity match was held at Oxford’s Wantage range on the 21st February between CURPC and OUPC. Cambridge had so far enjoyed a very successful season with a squad comprising both experienced members (having recently competed at county or international level) and many new and talented shooters. However, last year’s small-bore Varsity was won by a close margin and the summer full-bore GRCF (Imperial) match lost by only a single point, making the recent competition extremely close.

The Varsity match follows the standard pistol course of fire (gauged for a .22 round), comprising precision and rapid fire rounds shot in teams of four over 20 yards. This year’s competition saw Oxford hosting, giving the dark blue side the home ground advantage. Both teams started strongly, shooting shoulder to shoulder, Cambridge with Oxford. However unfamiliar range conditions threw a number of the Cambridge side allowing Oxford to pull into an early lead. Equipment problems then put paid to Cambridge’s 4th man’s hopes of a comeback allowing Oxford to claim victory in the A team match.

The CURPC ladies' team, on the other hand, managed to successfully deal with all these setbacks (including a gun malfunction), despite the squad consisting mostly of novices. An ability to remain calm under pressure is of course crucial to any competitive shooting sport, and the squad clearly rose to this on the day with a personal best score from ladies' captain Wenjun Qu helping to secure the 2010 ladies' trophy.

Half blues (minimum requirement of 500 ex. 600) were awarded to Vin Shen Ban, Clark Barrett, James Bullock and Wenjun Qu.

 

Shooter	150	150	20	20	10	10	Total
Cambridge A
James Bullock (cpt)	87	93	93	94	86	84	537
Vin Shen Ban	87	86	88	85	84	83	513
Clark Barrett	91	87	89	93	82	87	529
Jase Taylor	77	74	75	84	80	72	462
Total							2041
Oxford A
Brian Tang	86	89	91	92	89	88	535
Imogen Solly	87	90	85	96	91	90	539
Patrick Schueder	91	92	85	88	92	88	536
Zheng Lo	87	92	87	89	83	91	529
Total							2139

Cambridge B
Emma Kirby	72	76	73	74	73	73	441
Pradipta Biswas	76	80	76	71	64	74	441
James Blackstone	78	82	88	87	77	76	488
Sean Ng	85	84	64	91	82	63	469
Total							1839
Oxford B
Scott Ansell	88	89	84	87	76	80	504
Alistair MacGregor(cpt)	91	85	82	87	87	86	518
David Main	90	95	93	92	81	83	534
Ariana Adjani	81	76	83	81	78	72	471
Total							2027

Cambridge Ladies
Sophie Reed	87	86	77	91	75	77	493
Jess Touschek	78	83	77	67	73	75	453
Wenjun Qu	88	92	91	87	86	80	524
Dominique Iste	77	78	75	67	65	86	448
Total							1918
Oxford Ladies
Imogen Solly	87	90	85	96	91	90	539
Ariana Adjani	81	76	83	81	78	72	471
Emma Hindley	72	85	79	79	63	70	448
Ksenia Peterneva	65	75	70	62	63	59	394
Total							1852

 

2009

The Varsity Match between CURPC (Cambridge University Revolver and Pistol Club) and OUPC (Oxford University Pistol Club) was shot on the 15th of February 2009 at the Elizabeth Way shooting range, Cambridge. CURPC had a team comprising mostly of freshers and was up against the same OUPC team that beat last year's more experienced CURPC team by 80 points. It was a very tight match which came down to the last shot of CURPC's Captain Daniel Kumbang.

The course of fire was: 5 shots in 150 seconds 4 times, 5 shots in 20 seconds 4 times, 5 shots in 10 seconds 4 times.

Cambridge fielded a team of:
Cambridge A: Chris Clemente, James Bullock, Daniel Kumbang (Captain), Kenny Wan
Cambridge B: Wenjun Qu, Xiao Han, Prith Hallikeri, Sean Ng
Ladies' Team: Wenjun Qu, Xiao Han, Lindsay Nemeth, Denise Law

Against Oxford's team of:
Oxford A: David Johnson, Patrick Schweder, Brian Tang, Arulkumaran Umapathy (Captain)
Oxford B: Zheng Lo, Elspeth Robertson, Minerva Singh, Imogen Solly
Ladies' Team: Nicole Grunstra, Elspeth Robertson, Minerva Singh, Imogen Solly

The Team A match, which counts for the Varsity Trophy, started off with James Bullock and Christofer Clemente shooting concurrently against David Johnson and Amrulkumaran Umapathy.
This resulted in the following scores: Arulkumaran Umapathy (Captain) 502 ex. 600, David Johnson 531, Chris Clemente 515, James Bullock 534. This put CURPC in the lead by 16 points initially.

In the second detail of the Team A match, Kenny Wan shot concurrently with Patrick Schweder and Brian Tang: Kenny Wan: 518, Patrick Schweder: 527, Brian Tang: 517. This meant that the final shooter, Daniel Kumbang, had to score a 511 to win the match.

Knowing the score needed to achieve to win the match normally puts immense amounts of pressure on a shooter, and the Cambridge team started to worry if this would happen. After a bad start, Daniel managed to pull it together to score a 521, with a perfect 10 points on the final shot, winning the match for CURPC.

Final score:
OUPC 2077 ex. 2400 CURPC 2088 ex. 2400.

Half blues achieved (minimum requirement of 500 ex. 600): Chris Clemente, James Bullock, Daniel Kumbang, Kenny Wan, Wenjun Qu: 501, Prith Hallikeri: 524

2008

Shooter	150	150	20	20	10	10	Total
Oxford A
Chris Leader	88	90	93	95	87	96	549
David Johnson	92	93	91	87	86	82	531
Minerva Singh	92	93	88	89	95	89	546
Arul Umapathy	94	92	84	91	91	88	540
Total							2166
Cambridge A
Dan Kumbang	88	91	86	89	82	66	502
Cheng Liu	90	90	88	93	89	92	542
Chris Bamford	85	85	84	92	89	88	523
Juan Tian	92	89	92	81	79	84	517
Total							2084

Oxford B
Brian Tang	93	91	83	89	89	94	539
Elspeth Robertson	86	90	86	82	80	90	514
Imogen Solly	89	83	93	91	84	83	523
Iain Jackson	82	85	74	86	80	81	488
Total							2064
Cambridge B
Xueni Zhu	88	89	85	84	80	85	511
Xiao Han	89	76	81	74	68	77	465
Wenjun Qu	80	82	80	86	82	89	499
Imran Yusuff	79	78	66	72	70	78	445
Total							1918

Oxford Ladies
Minerva Singh	92	91	88	89	95	89	545
Elspeth Robertson	86	90	86	82	80	90	514
Imogen Solly	89	83	93	91	84	83	523
Zoie Lambourne	72	79	74	77	77	70	449
Total							2031
Cambridge Ladies
Juan Tian	92	89	92	81	79	84	517
Xueni Zhu	88	89	85	84	80	85	511
Xiao Han	89	76	81	74	68	77	465
Wenjun Qu	80	82	80	86	82	89	499
Total							1992

Courtesy of OUPC

2007

The teams of 4 each had to shoot a sequence of 60 shots over 20 yards in the Standard pistol discipline. The match was very close throughout with the lead fluctuating between the dark and light blues throughout the competition. However, Cambridge managed to hold their nerve in the final 10 second series to win the competition 2156/2400 versus Oxford's 2144/2400. All 4 members of the Cambridge A team earned their half blue by shooting a higher score than the qualifying 500 points. Top scorer was Julien Coyne with 569/600.

Shooter	150	150	20	20	10	10	Total
Oxford A
Will Manley	93	91	84	97	90	90	545
Simon Shenton	91	89	90	94	89	88	541
Chris Leader	92	90	88	89	89	89	537
Amanda Welford	90	90	83	81	89	88	521
Total							2144
Cambridge A
Julian Coyne	96	96	96	95	92	94	569
Cheng Liu	93	88	93	91	83	92	540
Michail Kibalchnko	91	91	81	90	88	90	531
Chris Bamford	88	91	84	90	80	83	516
Total							2156
Oxford B
Sarah Franklin	88	93	87	89	82	83	522
George Feast	83	93	76	82	81	83	498
Dave Wall	86	85	82	82	80	78	493
Davey Johnson	78	83	83	78	76	83	481
Total							1994
Cambridge B
Kenny Wan	92	89	88	84	86	90	529
Xueni Zhu	?	?	?	?	?	?	495
Daniel Kumbang	90	87	79	79	64	75	475
Guy Treevek	80	81	73	88	68	72	462
Total							1962

Oxford Ladies
Sarah Franklin	88	93	87	89	82	83	522
Amanda Welford	90	90	83	81	89	88	521
Elspeth Robertson	84	79	80	80	73	80	476
Imogen Solly	80	85	73	79	77	66	460
Total							1979
Cambridge Ladies
Wenjun Qu	83	84	87	81	83	87	505
Xueni Zhu	?	?	?	?	?	?	495
Xuan Luo	85	83	70	76	84	85	483
Georgina Sawyer	83	81	77	88	71	79	479
Total							1962

Courtesy of OUPC

2006

Shooter	150	150	20	20	10	10	Total
Cambridge A
Xunei Zhu	85	89	79	79	77	74	483
Xuan Luo	74	81	83	75	78	64	455
Cheng Liu	91	90	90	91	90	84	536
Alison Nimmo	92	80	81	70	70	84	477
Total							1951
Oxford A
Will Manley	92	89	91	86	87	90	535
Mandy Welford	95	88	87	90	88	84	532
Emma Crowley	94	91	87	92	91	83	538
Ollie Holt	93	91	93	90	87	91	545
Total							2150

Cambridge B
Bo Zhang	76	77	69	89	75	78	464
Ivan Wong	76	79	87	87	84	74	487
Nicole Taylor	70	72	74	71	65	48	400
Kenny Wan	77	77	74	81	74	88	471
Total							1822
Oxford B
Chris Leader	86	89	87	83	87	80	512
Sarah Franklin	80	90	79	92	84	89	514
Bijon Pani	89	91	85	86	82	82	515
George Feast	83	89	85	77	78	74	486
Total							1815

Cambridge Ladies
Xunei Zhu	85	89	79	79	77	74	483
Xuan Luo	74	81	83	75	78	64	455
Nicole Taylor	70	72	74	71	65	48	400
Alison Nimmo	92	80	81	70	70	84	477
Total							1815
Oxford Ladies
Emma Crowley	94	91	87	92	91	83	538
Mandy Welford	95	88	87	90	88	84	532
Sarah Franklin	80	90	79	92	84	89	514
Amanda Russo	79	84	72	81	83	66	465
Total							2049

Courtesy of OUPC

2005

Another day of glory for the CURPC team. This year we beat Oxford in the Varsity Match, held in the Elizabeth Way range! Oxford won the B team and ladies matches.
 

Event	Cambridge	Oxford
Varsity Team A	2104	2098
Varsity Team B	1773	1866
Ladies Team	1862	2011

2004

This year's Varsity Match was held at the Wantage range in Oxfordshire. CURPC honoured the tradition of winning the Ladies match (1016 to 990), while Oxford won the A-team match (2101 to 2046) and the B-team match (1008 to 943).
 

A Team	B Team	Ladies
Kyle Maddison (528/600)	Georgina Sawyer (251/300)	Gail Aw (265/300)
Jacqueline Capes (510/600)	Evangelos Kotsovinos (238/300)	Georgina Sawyer (253/300)
Gail Aw (516/600)	Emma Keeling (232/300)	Jacqueline Capes (250/300)
Kate Smith (492/600)	Ioannis Chatzigeorgiou (222/300)	Kate Smith (248/300)

2003

CURPC won the B-team match by 27 points and the Ladies match by 181 points. Oxford won the A-team match by 47 points.

A Team	B Team	Ladies
Kate Smith	Jacqueline Capes	Jacqueline Capes
Laura Stanning	Ben Arnold	Kate Smith
Kyle Maddison	Gail Aw	Laura Stanning
Cheng Liu	Michael Bisgrove	Gail Aw

The A-team match at this year's Varsity competition was the highest quality for many years. Despite having to re-start his match with a club gun when his Steyer broke, Kyle Maddison (Jesus College) went on to shoot 524/600, Cambridge's top score. Although the rest of the A-team also shot well enough to qualify for a half-blue (over 500/600), Oxford proved the stronger team this year and won by 47 points overall.

The results of the B-team match show definite promise for next year and showed how difficult squad selection was this year. Both Ben Arnold (Fitzwilliam College), with the top score for the B-team, and Michael Bisgrove (Downing College) competed well in their first Varsity match. The atmosphere was tense as Cambridge waited for the Oxford Captain to put in the final score for their B-team, but in the end Cambridge won overall by 27 points.

In the Ladies match, Oxford fielded a fresh faced squad compared to the Cambridge 'old hands'. Special mention goes to Emma Crowley of Oxford who only recently started shooting and scored the highest score for the Oxford Ladies.