Despite near gale force winds the first MAAC Open bench rest competition for the 2009-2010 season turned out to be a great match.

Fifteen shooters struggled with the brutal wind force that literally wanted to wreak havoc with the Victoria Shooting Range.

As expected, the scores were not high but still very encouraging considering the conditions, the worst ever conditions since bench rest started way back in 2008.

The competition was divided into three different classes. The first was for the sub 15ft/lbs air rifles. The second was for the over 12ft/lbs and the third was for the spring piston class. This was the first time that a spring piston class was formed and was shot at a distance of 15m instead of the usual 25m like the other two classes.

Top shooter of the day for the sub 15ft/lbs class was Kris Debattista with 218/250 - 3x followed by David Giardina also with 218/250 - 0x but was won by Kris Debattista since he managed 3x on his score as opposed to 0x by David Giardina. In third place came Eric Camilleri with 215/250 1x.

Top shooter for the over 15ft/lbs went to Ruth Gauci with 212/250 - 0x followed by Dr. Mario Spiteri with 209/250 - 1x and Rennie Scorfna in third with 208/250 - 0x.

Top shooter for the Springer class went to Wayne Galea with a fine performance and a score of 232/250 - 3x followed by James Bugeja with 224/250 - 0x and David Giardina in third place with 220/250 - 0x.