Chad Ziadie and Aliana McMaster were crowned Jamaica’s national sporting clays champions on following an exhilarating day of shooting action at the Tru-Juice Estate in Bog Walk, St Catherine.
More than 100 of Jamaica’s best shooters had assembled to vie for the title of national champion. In the end, the pinpoint accuracy of Ziadie and the teen Phenom, McMaster, put them above the rest.
Ziadie advanced to the Super Six round after scoring 174 and was followed by Nicholas Chen (170), Christian Sasso (167), Craig Simpson (167) JJ Ralston (167) and Shaun Barnes (163).
The round consists of a 25-bird target over three rounds of intense shooting to determine the overall winner.
After the three rounds, Ziadie and Chen were tied on 185 forcing another round of eight targets. Both were still tied on 191, which meant that a fifth round shoot-off became necessary.
Ziadie shot first and picked off seven of the eight targets, forcing Chen to hit all eight targets for the win. He hit six thus handing Ziadie his very first national title.
"It feel great. I have been runner-up twice, last year and two years ago, so it feels good to be finally on top,” said the newly minted champion, who revealed how nerve-racking it was during the shoot off.
“You have to keep your mental going until the very end and also just zone out everybody else and just focus on yourself,” he said.
“He (Chen) pushed me to the end and I am glad I came out on top."
Junior shooter JJ Ralston was declared the A Class champion after scoring 167 along with Craig Simpson -167 and Christian Sasso - 167.
All three shooters competed in the Super Six shoot-off. Their placements are a direct result of their scores at the end of the shoot-off which were 183, 182 and 180 respectively.
McMaster had a relatively easier time of it, scoring 149. Her mother Wendy McMaster shot a score of 140 while Jolie Chin (115) was third.
Aliana, who was also second in the B Class behind Ramon Pitter (167), was thought she could have shot better during the tournament.
"I am not entirely satisfied with my performance over the weekend however I am still grateful that I was still able to come out on top," she said.
The top three shooters in the various classes were:
A Class: JJ Ralston - 167, Craig Simpson - 167 and Christian Sasso - 167.
B Class: Ramon Pitter - 161, Aliana McMaster - 149 and Najeeb Haber - 137.
C Class: Gordon Bucknor - 145, Dominic Simpson - 143 and Wendy McMaster 140 (L/R).
D Class: Craig Hendrickson - 156, Justin Samuda - 149 and Anthony Desnoes 141.
E Class: Max Williams - 127, Seymour Essor - 124 and Chris Clarke - 121.
Ladies Class: Aliana McMaster - 149, Wendy McMaster -140 and Joelie Chin - 115.
The Juniors: JJ Ralston - 167, Roman Tavares-Finson - 161, Mark Desnoes – 159.
Hunters or Beginners: Andrew Clarke - 132, Kevin Chin Shue - 126 and Nick Dawson - 125.