The 2026 SAARA National Championship took place in North West on 2 and 3 October 2026. We had a full programme with lots of entries, and we saw some excellent shooting with many personal best scores.

We sincerely thank the athletes and parents who supported the match. We also appreciate the local schools—Wesvalia Hoëskool, Laerskool La Hoff and Laerskool Saamtrek—for generously making their facilities available for both days. Finally, we thank the SAARA North West team and SAARA management team members for the time and effort they devoted to ensuring the event’s success.

The final events produced a good standard of shooting that brought the event to a close. Athletes showed accuracy, composure and consistency across the three closely contested rounds. The small margins between the leading scores resulted in ties that had to be broken, and the final standings was often only confirmed after the last shots. Spectators followed the finals with interest and showed their support for the athletes throughout the competition.

My apologies to the athletes who competed in the sporter finals. I was distracted and forgot to take photographs of the champions after the match, and my Photoshop skills do not fully reflect the significance of your achievements.

The 2026 National champions for the various disciplines are:

 10M Sporter Men - from the left: - Charl Kotze - Gold, Leon Potgieter - Silver, Chailo Janse van Rensber - Bronz

10M Sporter Women - from the left: - Lihandri Fourie - Gold, Estie Meyer - Silver, Natalie de Beer - Bronz

10M Olympic Men - from the left: Gunter Jonker - Silver, Matthew Schutte - Gold, Divan van der Linde - Brons

10M Olympic Women - from the left: Jo-Ann Serfontein - Brons, Suné Boshoff - Gold, Anya Theart - Silver