Sasso, Mcmaster top guns at PWD Winter Open
THREE-TIME national shotgun champion Christian Sasso out shot all competitors in the PWD Winter Open Sporting Clays tournament, including the 2019 winner Shaun Barnes, on Sunday at the Tru-juice Estate in Bog Walk, St Catherine, to be crowned Highest Overall (HOA) winner.
Sasso picked off 93 out of 100 birds for the win.
This was four birds better than runner-up Ray Mcmaster who bagged 89. He placed higher by way of ‘long run’ than Robert Yap Foo, who also shot 89. Long run is sometimes used to separate or break ties based on performance on pre-determined stations.
“The PWD win feels good. I have won that tournament before, but I wasn’t there last year so it feels good to come back and take over the championship. The course was amazing, probably by far one of the best local courses that I have personally shot out here,” said Saso.
He gave credit to the course setters.
“Shout out to Oneil Brown and his team [as] they did a fantastic job, on par with any international course that I have seen,” Sasso said.
“I just want to thank everybody who participated. Thank you to the PWD crew who organised the shoot. Thank you to the Mcconnells and also to the Desnoes who lent us their lovely venue in Bogwalk,” he added.
Four-time national female shotgun champion Wendy Mcmaster topped the group of ladies, including three of her daughters who were on the course. She shot 70, which was just one shot better than runner-up Aliana Mcmaster, while former national female shotgun champion Marguerite Harris shot 66 to grab third place.
“The PWD shoot was a very good shoot. It was well put together shoot. The course was well set - international style birds [and] different presentations that we have never seen for some stations before. It was well represented, in honour of the late Errol Ziadie where each station had a tag honouring his time here,” said Wendy Mcmaster.
“The win for me, for Ladies is exceptional and sensitive because the last tournament Aliana, who is my daughter, had beat me in the last tournament, the Tony Kelly Skeet. She did very well and she has made me proud,” added the elder Mcmaster..
“I was quite happy that she did not beat me. She shot 69 and I shot 70. I was quite overjoyed when I realised that I ended up on top because I Know that I wouldn’t finish hearing it from her father and some friends who are shooters. I am really happy that I won the Ladies [section],” she went on.
The top junior shooters were Danzell Knight (88), David Wong (85) over Peter Mahfood, also 85, by way of ‘long run’.
The top three in the various classes were: A Class — Robert Yap Foo (89), Criag Simpson (88) and Danzell
Knight (88— long run). B Class — Ryan Chen (88), Mark Desnoes (88) and Zachary Harris (83 long run). C Class — Brandon Laing (84), JJ Ralston (81) and Ricky Dequesnay (81 long run). D Class — JP Dipchank (76), Richard Todd (74) and Anthony Desnoes (73). E Class — David Ffrench (69), Lenin Thompson (69 long run) and Carlton Davis (67). Hunters Class — Nicllous Stewart (73), Aliana Mcmaster (69) and Baron Lee Jnr (67). Sub Juniors Class — Aliana Mcmaster (69), Blake Cooper (49) and Kyle Reid (36).
Two shooters moved up in classes in David Ffrench who was promoted to D Class and Nicklous Stewart promoted to E Class.
The PWD Winter Open is a very important charity for the PWD Hunting & Sporting Club. The monies earned will be used to fund various programmes in the Portland Cottage area of Clarendon, including a basic school that the club adopted. It is one of the biggest tournament on the calendar. Club president Christopher Reid indicated that the club has always been able to “attract a big field that delivers great performances”.
The PWD club introduced the driving course concept as most shooting tournaments are done on walking courses. The expansive driving course leads to the presentation of more interesting targets.