Ryan Bramwell in action.
contributed
A big field of 60 of Jamaica's top gunners will do battle at Jamaica Rifle Association's (JRA) Christmas Hamper Shoot at Woodleigh Shooting Range in Clarendon on Saturday.
The competitors will use the time on the range to prepare for the International Practical Confederation World shoot in South Africa, which is scheduled for 2025, where only the world's best shooters will get the chance to compete for prizes and top honours, as well as ranking points, to move up the scale to reach the zenith of master shooter. The World Shoot is a Level V championship and Jamaica will have eight spots at that event. It is the highest level in practical pistol competitions worldwide.
Some of the shooters who will be on the rage include Ryan Branwell, Shayon Francis, Adrian Randle and Andy Yap in the Open Division; Yeonie Campbell in Carry Optics, as well as Michael Bradshaw, Anthony Johnson and Matthew Smith-Barrett in Production Division.
All those shooters have enjoyed good form throughout the year, both locally and overseas, where they bettered competitors from other countries.
Bramwell topped his division locally in the JRA's President's Cup IPSC Level III in late October, ahead of Chris Hart and Randle. Bramwell also did well in the US National Championship in November, when he won the Production Optics Senior Division to collect the championship plaque.
Female shooter Campbell, earlier this year copped the Production Division and Ladies Category in the Spectrum Handgun Championship on her home range at Mountain View Avenue. She bettered Johnson in a nail-biter with just one point separating them, while Rohan Wallace was third.
When she competed in the US Nationals, Campbell placed 32nd from a field of 149 shooters in the Production Division and was the first female in the division.
President Rohan Wilson took over the reins of the JRA mid-year after Major John Nelson demitted office ahead of the scheduled elections.
Wilson is upbeat about Saturday's shoot, as well as the high number of competitors who registered. Though not wanting to predict any specific winners, he said that the competition will be "fierce among the competitors in the various divisions."
Craig Simpson & Wendy McMaster ready to defend Rangers Sporting Clays titles
Defending champions Craig Simpson and Wendy McMaster will be gunning for top honors again at the Rangers Gun Club shoot which is set for Sunday May 6th with a 10 am shotgun start at the True Juice Complex in Bog Walk, St. Catherine.
The venue is considered to be happy hunting ground for the two defending champions. It is the venue where Simpson posted his highest score in the sport (97 out of a possible 100) and where McMaster dethroned her daughter and two-time winner Aliana, to take the top spot.
Competition for top honors will be stiff as some of the Jamaica Skeet Club's best shooters will be on the course. They include nine-time national shotgun champion Ian Banks, six-time national shotgun champion Shaun Barnes, four-time national shotgun champion Christian Sasso, other national shotgun champions like Chad Ziadie, his father Geoffrey Ziadie, Ray McMaster, Andrew Hopwood, Nicholas Benjamin and young David Wong as well as former winner Nicholas Chen.
On the female side the top contenders include two-time winner Aliana McMaster and sister Leanne, Renee Rickhi who is part of the Jamaica Rifle Association's Alpha Angels lady shooters, Marguerite Harris and granddaughter Lori-Ann Harris among others.
Shooters in various classes from A - E, Hunters or Beginners, Juniors, Sub-Juniors and Ladies will be competing hard in order to win their classes and in some cases move up to higher and more challenging classes. The event features an eighteen-station driving course.
The shooters will face targets of varying types including true pairs (birds launched at the same time), rabbits (birds released on the ground), birds in the air released at different speeds and directions as well as some targets released over gentle flowing streams on the lush green course.
The Rangers Gun Club is expecting another big field of approximately one hundred and fifty shooters to conquer the expansive driving course for a day of individual and team competition which will feature the local gun clubs. For the third year in a row four clubs will compete for that trophy. The competing clubs are Driftwood Gun Club, Rangers Gun Club, Trelawny Gun Club and defending champion - the Jamaica Gun Club.
Part proceeds from the event will be donated to the Food for the Poor organization.
The lead sponsor for the Rangers Gun Club Sporting Clays shoot is Sterling Asset Management while Worthy Park Select, National and STLSOLAR are the next level sponsors.
The club has a rich history of young business men and some of their fathers who loved shooting getting together in the mid-1980s to start the Rangers Gun Club at their Salt Gully base in St. Catherine. They initially focused on bird shooting then took on sporting clays which is currently the most popular form of the sport.
Simpson, McMaster on target at Driftwood Gun Club Sporting Clays tourney
Three-time winner Craig Simpson and four-time female winner Aliana McMaster finished tops at the Driftwood Gun Club Shoot at the 17-station Murphy Hill Course in St Ann recently.
Both competitors shot 95 out of 100 targets and dominated the packed field, which included a total of 157 of the best gunners on the island, such as nine-time national shotgun champion and president of the Jamaica Skeet Club Ian Banks; six-time national shotgun champion and defending champion Shaun Barnes; four-time and reigning national shotgun champion Christian Sasso; Chad Ziadie, the 2022 national shotgun champion; as well as five-time national female shotgun champion Wendy McMaster.
The young McMaster already created history by being the first female to make it to the A Class late last year and her score of 95 again etched her name in the history books, as it is the highest by any female locally. When her score was posted most people thought it very possible that she won, which would make her the first female to win any sporting clay event in Jamaica, but Simpson roared back with his high-scoring 95 to set up a tense shoot-off between them.
In the end, Simpson took down six of the eight targets, while McMaster struck only four.
“Winning is always an amazing feeling, it’s what keeps us going. I tell everybody that I don’t think I leave my house if I was not coming here to win. I am hungry for the win. Always hungry for the win. I am always excited about the competitive field, and as the years go by with the juniors emerging, the field only becomes more competitive, and it's an internal challenge to stay relevant. I have been able to do that over the years and I plan to continue to be there for as long as I can, but they are coming," Simpson said.
McMaster, on the other hand, was also happy with her performance.
“It’s honestly an amazing feeling. After you have a reputation or expectation from the people coming to the shoot it can get to you and really mess up your head. I feel it can play a big part in how that day goes, but I just had to approach it like any other shoot and just do my best, and frankly, winning four times in a row is honestly such a great feeling and I am absolutely grateful for it," she noted.
Meanwhile, the top three in the various classes were A Class: Christian Sasso (92) by way of shoot-off with William Zager (92) and Alex Cunningham (91); B Class: Gordon Bucknor (86), Robin Rickhi (84), and Zachary Harris (81); C Class: Brandon Laing (90), Adam Harris (85), and Wendy McMaster (85); D Class: Lori-Ann Harris (85) and Noah Vaughn (84); E Class: Seymour Essor (69), David Campbell (67), and Anthony Ayoub (67); Ladies: Aliana McMaster (95), Lori-Ann Harris (85), and Wendy McMaster (85); Hunters or Beginners: Philip Burgess (77), Cameron Lee (69), and Che Rowe (68); Juniors Aliana McMaster (95), David Wong (87), and Lori-Ann Harris (85); and Sub Juniors: Craig Powell Jr (55) and Levi Clarke (48).
Barnes, McMaster to defend Driftwood Gun Club Sporting Clays Shoot
Three-time defending champion Aliana McMaster and defending champion Shaun Barnes are ready to defend their Driftwood Gun Club titles on Sunday at the picturesque Murphy Hill Estate over-looking the town of Ocho Rios.
The event will begin at 9:30 am, with over 150 shooters set to contest the 17-station course.
It kicks off the first sporting clays shoot of the year for the Jamaica Skeet Club, which has a busy 2024 calendar.
Barnes, the six-time national shotgun champion, will battle the likes of four-time national champion Christian Sasso and nine-time national shotgun champion and current Jamaica Skeet Club president Ian Banks, as well as two-time Driftwood Gun Club champion Craig Simpson, the red-hot Nick Benjamin, with multiple wins under his belt in 2023, and the very consistent Ray McMaster among other outstanding shooters. They will be challenged by several sharp shooting juniors.
Meanwhile, the Ladies section will also be competitive with McMaster expected to be challenged by her mother, many-time national shotgun champion Wendy McMaster, former national shotgun champion Marguerite Harris and a number of very good lady shooters such as Renee Rickhi, Loriann Harris and others.
The shooters will compete in various classes including A to E, Juniors, Sub-Juniors, Ladies and Hunters or beginners.
Proceeds from the tournament will be used for the Driftwood Gun Club’s charities, which are dominated by educational support in the Treasure Beach area in the parish of St. Elizabeth.
Club president, Christina East is happy to have Proven on board for the fourth consecutive year as major sponsor. She credited David East who passed away in 2020 with playing a pivotal role in securing the venue (Murphy Hill) as the home of the club's annual competition.
East was considered to be a visionary club member who only wanted the best for sporting clays in Jamaica, hence the competition is held in his honour. This year marks twenty years of existence for the Driftwood Gun Club.
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