Hail Kenya’s shooting stars: Local sharpshooters post superb display in South Africa

[PHOTO: COURTESY]

The Kenya team at the International Defensive Pistol Association (IDPA) Africa Championships braced the cold weather of minus 3 Celsius at Vlackfontein shooting range, Ermelo, Mpumalanga South Africa as several shooters won various categories.

Kenya was represented in eight categories in the competition that included over 300 participants.

In International Category ESP Division, Eric Wachira was first with a score of 421.11, Anthony Kamunyi came second with a three second gap and total score of 424.40 while Shuruti Mwanjirani (496.75) was third.

In the SSP International Division, Master shooter Robert Nyamongo finished first with a score of 374.03. Expert shooter Sammy Onyango scooped second position with a score of 439.15, while Peter Njoroge came in third with a score of 442.05 and was promoted to SharpShooter classification by virtue of his scores.

In the Law Enforcement Category Alamin Lubisia of Kenya Prisons finished first with a score of 479.20 whereas Daniel ‘Ninja’ Kyalo (522.58) was second. Gert Janse van Rensburg (559.11) from South Africa was third.

Mwanjirani was the fifth most accurate shooter in the entire shoot with 19 points down and Nyamongo was seventh with 39 points down. ESP Division Eric Wachira came in 15th and Anthony Kamunyi 16th. Being their maiden appearance at the annual event it was by all standards a superb display of speed and accuracy.

The competition had its share of intrigues. Celebrated Master shooter Mohammed Omar who had sustained an injury ten days to the IDPA competition put up a brave fight and made it to the final leg. But things went haywire for the top shooter when he was disqualified on technical grounds.

“You get DQ’d for several reasons, but the one that took people out was flouting the 180-degree rule for muzzle direction and when one gets 2 finger violations — meaning that they shot from one target to the other without maintaining a finger off the trigger.  A first finger violation attracts a penalty of 3 seconds and serves as a warning. A second finger violation attracts a DQ,” Said NGAO Kenya chairman Anthony Wahome.

According to Sharpshooter Soi Kilonzo from Mombasa, the stages were quite good, the safety officers were friendly and helpful, the only challenge they had was the weather.

“We were shooting in the morning with temperatures at minus 3 degrees. It is not something we are used to back in Nairobi. We had a trigger freeze (trigger being hard), he said.