Guillou right on target as he wins in dramatic finale

He was one of three shooters from Guernsey, along with his wife Andrea Guillou and Jamie Le Page, to make the trip to the St Lawrence range and compete for the Kenitex Trophy alongside the Caesarean trio of their island champion and former British champion David Turner, Jonny Bouchard and Kirk Lewis.

‘It’s impossible to predict the result,’ said Guillou before he departed for the event.

‘Jersey have won the trophy for the past seven years and each one of their competitors can post very high scores.’

The St Lawrence range is equipped with electronic targets and scoring is in the new decimal format.

Each shot can carry a maximum score of 10.9 and each is displayed on the shooter’s screen so there is immediate feedback on how you are performing.

A good level is achieved with a decimal score of at least 100 per series of 10 shots. Unless a competitor can see the others’ screen, there is no way of telling how well or badly anyone else is shooting.

Paul Guillou took an early lead with a very good start in the first two series each of 103 and 103.7.

He was unaware that Bouchard had already also shot 103 in his first 10 shots.

Normally the threat would have come from Turner, although Guillou knew that his wife Andrea always had the capability to beat any score he could achieve.

Of the six shooters, Paul Guillou was last to finish.

The results were being displayed on the screen in the club room and he was unaware how close the scoring was.

With two shots left, he could have placed anywhere in the top three.

Bouchard had finished with 603.1 and Andrea Guillou was on 601.7.

Bouchard had worked out that Guillou would need two shots each of 10.6 to win.

Fingers were crossed in both camps obviously for different outcomes.

Guillou’s penultimate shot was indeed a 10.6.

Being oblivious to the importance of the final shot, Guillou followed his set process approaching the 10-ring accurately, focussing on a smooth trigger action and aware that, as usual, good follow-through would give the best chance of a high-value shot.

The result was a solid 10.7 and victory by just 0.2 points after 60 shots.

‘When I came off the range and saw the results I was surprised at how close the final scores were,’ said the winner.

‘I had a bad fifth string of 10 shots and I knew that I was in danger of squandering my good start.

‘I refocused for the last 10 shots, knowing that it takes just one shot out of the 60 that can make the difference between winning or losing a place.

‘I was impressed with Andrea’s and Jonny’s scores.’

The friendly inter-island rivalry will continue this week when Jersey competitors will come over for the annual Cobo Open air rifle and air pistol competition.

Jersey’s David Turner has won the event for the past 11 years, but the Guillous are on good form to place his dominance under real threat this year.