2019 Abie Libbus Memorial Match

The Metro Rifle and Pistol Club hosted the 3rd annual Abie Libbus Memorial Air Gun Tournament Sunday, June 9th, at the East Bay Firehall. Abie was a local veteran, past Club President and long time local organizer of the shooting sports in Cape Breton.

The format for the match is the same format as used in Olympic competition. Athletes shoot two regular 60 shot matches in their Air Rifle or Pistol disciplines and their scores are combined to determine ranking. The top 8 Athletes have their score returned to zero, and are called to the line to shoot again in a final against each other. The finals consist of Athletes firing five shots in a short timeline, then turning to face the crowd while an announcer calls out the results. The stress then becomes apparent as top athletes start showing a noticeable decrease in performance. Athletes fire five shots again and the process is repeated, results are announced. Then 2 shots are fired and the athlete in 8th place is cut from the finals and sits down. The process continues, 2 shots and another athlete is cut until a Gold Medal Tournament winner is determined. This finals proved to be one of the best to date in Atlantic Canada as the two top Athletes, Bob Selig (Provincial and National Medalist from Dartmouth N.S.) and Mike Kelly (2019 Silver Medalist in Atlantic Canadians & in the International Grand Prix In Ontario from East Bay) went shot for shot ending in a tied score. The tie was broken with an additional shoot off with Mike Kelly gaining the upper hand and taking home the Gold Medal.

Rene DeHaitre from Ontario (Member of the Canadian National Pistol Team in Russia 2015) won Bronze and also put forward a stellar performance setting the Atlantic Canadian 60 shot record of 553 out of a possible 600 points in his second match.

However, the real star of this year’s match was junior Lauren Chettle (Provincial Medalist from Marion Bridge), winning both Gold Medals in Women’s Pistol and Women’s Rifle. That has never before been done in Atlantic Canadian Competitions! Way to go Lauren!

Pistol Finals, left to right: Rene DeHaitre, Bob Selig, Andy Maxwell, Kirk Best, Joe MacHoll, Hubert Mertens, Lauren Chettle, Mike Kelly

A short note in the Cape Breton Post after the match: