Five of Jamaica's best shooters captured top spots in the five competitive divisions of the Jamaica Rifle Association's (JRA) Christmas Hamper at the Woodleigh Shooting Range in Clarendon, on Saturday.
A total of 54 competitors took to the 10-stage range under sometimes cloudy skies. In the end, Ryan Bramwell topped the Open Division, Chris Hart bagged the Carry Optic Division, Petrano Belafonte secured the Limited Optics Division, and Greg Henry held on to the Limited Division, while Michael Bradshaw was the surprise winner of the Production Division.
Bramwell, who ended with 887.45 points, ahead of Andrew Yap's 795.02 and Alrice Palmer's 726.34 in the Open Division, was overjoyed.
"I am very happy with my performance on the weekend. I really wanted to win the year with a strong performance, and I shot a very fast and accurate match on Saturday. When the dust settled, I ended up winning eight of the ten stages in my division and I won the match by eleven percent and ninety-two match points which is actually the largest margin of victory all year. My performance is the result of all the work that I have put in," Bramwell said.
"I have actually done a lot of observation and analysis when I attended the US IPSC Nationals in November, and this match presented me with an opportunity to put some of that knowledge and information gained into practice, and I think I have a lot more in the tank. I am really looking forward to 2024 as my training and preparation for the World Shoot which is in 2025 continues. It is setting up to be a really exciting year ahead and I can't wait for the action to start in January," he added.
The Production Division was very competitive with under two points separating Bradshaw and runner-up Anthony Johnson. Bradshaw who switched division from Carry Optics to Production, put in a disciplined performance to post 554.43 points with the experienced Johnson (552.68 points) and Sanjay Welsh (533.97 points) behind.
"My performance on Saturday was a result of both mental and physical training weeks before the Christmas Hamper. Production is the division which I first started shooting and I decided to shoot the same to tighten up a few fundamental aspects of my shooting. Being focused is also one of the main reasons why I was able to come out on top as one can easily lose focus whilst going through the stages, hence I knew I had to remain focused because I knew I was going up against some of the top shooters in the country," said Bradshaw.
Hart's 714.40 points was good enough to bag the Carry Optics Division ahead of the fast-charging Darin Richards (697.86 points) and Christopher Nunez (664.87 points). Experienced female shooter Yeonie Campbell, who opted to shoot Carry Optics instead of her customary Production Division, placed fourth with 566.90 points.
Belafonte secured the Limited Optics Division with 713.03 points, well ahead of Adrian Randle (692.74 points) and Ekepedeme Otuokon (652.53 points), while Henry (668.42 points), proved too good for rivals in the Limited Division. He won ahead of Ronald Brown (642.19 points) and Paul Dixon (541.74 points).
Meanwhile, Jamaica Constabulary Force ladies, Constable Shayon Francis (644.32 points) and Detective Sergeant Sasha Mullings (518.35 points), dominated the law enforcement category, as they placed first and second respectively.
Newly-elected JRA president Rohan Wilson said the event was significant in helping shooters with preparation in their build-up to the International Practical Shooting Confederation World Shoot in South Africa in 2025
"There will be a team of so far eight that will be going (and) the team is now in the process of being selected. This was not one of the qualifying events but nonetheless, it is one of our preparatory events, and so we are grateful to the Woodleigh Shooting Range which offers a great spread in terms of real estate. We did see quite a number of competitors exercise extreme dexterity in the way they performed, and it was just an awesome competition to watch," Wilson said.