AFTER claiming the top spot at the NCB Capital Markets Sporting Clays Open last weekend, high-flying shooter Christian Sasso now has his sights set on securing a spot on Jamaica’s team to the World English Championship to be held in Florida.

Sasso, who shot the highest overall score of 90 at the Woodleigh Shooting Range in May Pen last Sunday, headlined the 11 shooters who had a second qualifying shoot-off at the Jamaica Skeet Club in Portmore yesterday.

At the end of that second shoot-off, the two qualifying scores will be totalled to select the five shooters and a reserve member that will represent Jamaica at the championships in April.

Sasso will be up against his father Leighton Sasso (86), Craig Simpson (88), Geoffrey Ziadie (86), Errol Ziadie (84), Bobby Chung (83), Khaleel Azan (83), Bruce DuQuesnay (82), Ian Banks (80), Joey Chin (80) and Gerry Chin (80).

“I think I have a good chance of taking a spot on the team because I have been shooting consistently in the top this year. I don’t practice as much as I should or need to but my mental game is strong so hopefully I can keep my focus going forward,” Sasso told the Jamaica Observer.

The NCB Capital Markets Sporting Clays Open has raised the bar over the years and this year was no different as approximately 170 competitors participated, which highlights the continuous growth of the sport locally.

Sasso maintained his winning momentum when he won ahead of Craig Simpson (88) and Geoffrey Ziadie (86). Leighton Sasso (86) topped the A class with Robert Reid (86 and Errol Ziadie (84) taking the runner-up spots.

The B class saw Najeeb Haber (80) just pipping Nikolas Hudson (80) and Robert Subaran (79) taking, while the top four positions in the C class included the top three junior shooters.

Andrew Azan posted an A class score of 85 to take the top spot in C and Junior classes, with Todd Lazarus (72) finishing second in both classes, edging out Mark Harris (72) who took C3. Richard Lechler (71) finished one bird outside of the podium for C class, but took a well-deserved third place in the juniors section.

Adam Harris (75) won a keenly contested D class ahead of Michael Handal (75) and Ramon Pitter (72). Matthew Josephs (72) just missed the podium in D class but scored a big win in sub-juniors.

Paul Asher (71) won the E class and placed second in sub-juniors category, while Roman Tavares Finson (71) was awarded second in E class and placed third in sub-juniors, with junior shooter Simon Khouri (69) taking E third.

Junior shooters Karan Dhiman (66), Cody Moodie (62) and Sub-junior Tomas Hudson (61) made a clean sweep in the Hunters class.

The ladies class turned out to be a family affair with Cassandra Chin (54) getting the better of Camille Chin (52) and Marguerite Harris (50).

Meanwhile, the Jamaica Skeet Club’s Annual General Meeting will be held today at the club.