Azan happy with NCB Sporting Clays win

With a small contingent of only eight female shooters competing at the recent National Commercial Bank (NCB) Capital Markets Junior Sporting Clays, Hillel Academy standout Leah Azan easily took the Girls A Class courtesy of 76 of 100 birds at the Jamaica Skeet Club in Portmore, St Catherine. She was comfortably ahead of Isabelle Chin, who shot 65 for the runner-up spot in the Girls A Class. "It feels great to be champion, it took a lot of concentration and a lot of rehydrating. It does mean a lot and I like to shoot," said 15-year-old Azan, a fifth-form student at Hillel.

"I have been shooting for two years now, competitively," she continued, while also noting that she competes at her school in football, tennis, and table tennis and remains passionate about sports in general.

This, however, was not her first time in the winners' enclosure, having won the championship two years ago and finishing as the runner-up last year.

"Yes, I think I can get it done (win) - maybe the next competition," she outlined.

GOOD COMPETITION

"It's good competition because we (girl shooters), like, talk with each other during the competition sometimes and say if you miss a bird, just try something else until you get it," Azan pointed out.

Najah Peterkin, NCB Capital Markets' manager of private finance services pointed out that she would like to see more females competing.

"It is bigger than last year. I think we had 72 participants. What may have been a little less is probably the girls, and I hear a lot of them have exams, but I will look into that," she explained.

"I do want to see more women. I do want to see more females - younger females and older females. The Sporting Clays is lacking in women, and maybe I should take the charge in shooting and become a participant myself," she joked.