Six points separate the top three competitors on the Open 10m Air Rifle Performance Series leaderboard going into the Target Rifle South Australia Championships at the Wingfield Rifle Range commencing tomorrow.
After six Open 10m Air Rifle Performance Series events to date, South Australia’s Jack Rossiter (95 points) holds a slender one point lead over Queensland’s Dane Sampson (94) and is six points clear of his sister Tori Rossiter (89).
Ironically, Sampson has yet to capture a 10m Air Rifle victory this year with the Rossiter siblings, South Australia’s Alex Hoberg, and Victorians Elise Collier and Michael Davis sharing top place on the medals podium.
However, Sampson has been rewarded with his consistency this year which has also been reflected in his outstanding performances in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions and 50m Rifle Prone events.
Sampson (120 points) has peeled off four 50m Rifle 3 Position victories from five events and holds a commanding 20 point lead over Jack Rossiter (100) and Victoria’s Michael Davis (78) on the Performance Series competition ladder.
In 50m Prone, Sampson (120 points) has also captured four gold medals from five events and heads the leaderboard ahead of Jack Rossiter (83) with South Australia’s Michael Nicholas and Tori Rossiter (49) level in third position.
Rossiter broke Sampson’s stranglehold in the 50m Rifle Prone with a last shot victory at the Target Rifle Australia national titles in Shepparton earlier this month.
Sampson, who attended the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, has been selected for his third Olympic Games in Tokyo in July where he will contest the 10m Air Rifle, 50m Rifle Three Positions, plus the Mixed Teams 10m Air Rifle.
In the Performance Series, athletes are awarded 25 points for winning event finals with the runners-up receiving 20 and 15 points respectively.
Performance Series leaderboards can be viewed at Leaderboards – Shooting Australia
