Christian Sasso crowned national sporting clays champion

More than 100 shooters trekked to Worthy Park Estates in St Catherine on Saturday and Sunday for the Jamaica Skeet Club's national sporting clays 200 birds championship, including defending champion and six-time champion Shaun Barnes, nine-time champion Ian Bank, and former champion Christian Sasso.

The conditions were challenging, with extreme heat and wind. The competition was challenging with the best shooters on the course as well as the challenging birds set by Oneil Brown on the 16 stations that made up the course.

At the end of the two-day shoot, and the Super Six, it was Christian Sasso who grabbed the coveted championship crown by five birds, ahead of runner-up Chad Ziadie. Sasso shot 82 and 87 to end with 169, and then shot another 21 from 25 in the Super Six for a total score of 190, to be crowned the overall winner. Ziadie, on the other hand, shot 82 and 84 in the main round, and then 19 from 25 in the Super-six to end on 185 overall.

Former champions Shaun Barnes and Ian Banks did not make it to the Super Six after posting score of 158 and 151, respectively. Barnes missed the Super-six by one bird.

Sasso was very pleased with winning the national sporting clays championship. He said "it feels excellent. It feels really good. I am proud of myself".

He summed up the two days' shooting when he said "the two days - Saturday's tournament - the birds were very edgy, not as easy as Sunday's course. The birds, to me, were all shootable, but it's a mental game. You have to stay focused and endure the heat".

Stiff competition

It was just as hard for the female shooters on the course who had to battle the same weather conditions. Wendy McMaster, who had a phenomenal year, winning several shoots and jumping classes from E Class to C Class, shot 128 birds over the two days. She had stiff competition from talented shooter Toni Barnes, who ended just one stroke behind on 127. Junior shooter Yasmin Eyre's 102 copped the third spot.

McMaster felt good about retaining the ladies championship. She said "yes, it feels good. It's an amazing feeling to know I have managed to hold the title for three years straight now. I think that I had a more productive year this year. I really am grateful that I managed to end up in C Class so early". Her movement to C Class from D Class was very quick.

The top three in the various classes were: A Class - Bruce Duquesnay, Geoffrey Zaidie and Ray McMaster; B Class - Andrew Hopwood, Ryan Chen and Zachary Chen; C Class - Danzel Knight, Rick Duquesnay and Mark Desnoes; D Class - Nathan Chin, Toby Hugh and David Wong; E Class - Richard Todd, Rajhir DaCosta and Damien Sawyers; Juniors - Roman Tavares-Finson, Toby Hugh and Mark Desnoes; and Sub Juniors - Nathan Chin, David Wong and Zaniel Knight; Hunters or beginners - Gordon Bucknor, Zachary Josephs and Gordon Clarke.