Metry Seaga honoured his late father by topping the Albert Seaga Memorial Skeet Competition in the 12-Gauge section on Sunday at Jamaica Skeet Club in Portmore.

He shot a masterful 98 after dropping only two birds on the way, wining the memorial tournament. He was close to being perfect on the day, as he shot 25 out of 25 in three of the four sets of 25 birds, and 23 out of 25 in the third set. Brett Thwaites was just one stroke behind on 97 to cop the runner-up spot.

Seaga was very pleased with his performance. “It was an honour to shoot in my father’s memorial tournament. I haven’t trained, I haven’t shot competitively in a very long time. I think his hand [his father Albert Seaga] was moving the gun today for me and helped me to shoot a good score. I am very pleased, thrilled as a matter of fact. It got a bit emotional out there.”

Seaga and his squad mates used to compete together in the past. “I led off the squad and hopefully my shooting helped to pull them along. It was just a great squad to shoot in, really enjoyable. I thank God for allowing me to be able to shoot sporadic today.”

According to Seaga there was very little rivalry among the squad. “From 25 years ago we been shooting internationally and when we go away, we go away as a team, so we are used to cheering each other — and that’s the camaraderie of the sport. We pull each other with us. When somebody is not doing as well they could we try to lift them up and bring them along, and today my team helped me a lot.”

He also credited his excellent performance to the fact the he has been doing skeet shooting since he was a child. “I have been shooting from I was eight years old. I haven’t shot competitively in 20 years but I think some of the things that I learned are ingrained in me. I have shot a lot in my life so this came like second nature.”

Seaga’s squad mates were David Lazarus, Sean Clacken, and Khaleel Azan. Lazarus shot 100 at the club to win the Tony Kelly Skeet Competition in late October, while Clacken shot 100 in the United States at the World Skeet Championships in early October to cop the C Class of that tournament. Azan, on the other hand, is a regular competitor on the various overseas tours by Jamaica teams.

The top shooters in the 12-Gauge were: A Class — David Lazarus 93. B Class — Nicholas Benjamin 95; Anthony Desnoes 92 (LR), and Sean Clacken 92 (LR). C Class — Khaleel Azan 91 (LR), Ryam Chen 91 (LR), and Najeeb Haber 89. D Class — Rajhir DaCosta 87, Matthew Sale 82, and Kirk Lalah 81. E Class — Craig Davis 95, Winston Quest 87, and Steven Chang Pong 82. Hunter or Beginner Class, Simone DaCosta 74, Gregory East 73 (R), and Yasmin Benjamin 73 (LR). Juniors, Rajhir DaCosta 87, David Wong 83, and Neesa DaCosta 61. Ladies Simone DaCosta 74, Yasmin Benjamin 73, and Neesa DaCosta 61.

Last Saturday’s 20-gauge shoot went to David Lazarus 94, while Khaleel Azan 89, was the runner up.

The winners in the various classes were: B Class — Sean Clacken 87; C Class — Najeeb Haber 83; D Class and Junior Class — Rajhir DaCosta 83, and Hunters Class and Ladies winner — Simone DaCosta 76.

Albert Seaga was one of the founding members of the Jamaica Skeet Club. He was also an accomplished shooter.