Masterclass shooter Andrew “Wasp” Yap topped the Limited Division and was overall winner at the Jamaica Rifle Association’s (JRA) Christmas Hamper pistol shooting competition on Mountain View Avenue on Saturday.

Yap amassed 785.7 points to win ahead of defending champion Ryan Bramwell, who scored 778 points.

Chris Hart bagged the Carry Optics Division repelling the challenges from Chris Nunez and Dwight Bancey. In the Open Division, Alberto Dascola won ahead of Adrian Randle and Andre Oddman.

Meanwhile, veteran shooter Anthony “TJ” Johnson dominated the Production Division, leaving Sanjay Welsh and Andrew Bent in his wake.

In the female category, Super Six shooter Renee Rickhi came out on top as she won ahead of her Super Six teammates Kayla Keane and Shayon Francis.

“Winning this match has put me in high spirits… it was a great match with lots of great competitors and being able to shoot alongside them as both friends and rivals and coming out on top, is a good end to this year’s shooting season,” Yap told the Jamaica Observer.

Yap is a veteran competitor, who thinks his years of experience helped to keep him on target for the win.

“I have been in sport shooting representing Jamaica all over the world and shooting with the best of the best for many years…over that time I have learnt a lot and have put in a fair amount of training, plus using my experience as a key element to my success,” he said.

“Unfortunately, over the last few months work has kept me busy and I didn’t get a lot of time to train, but I relied on my experience and really keeping my mental game solid,” Yap added.

Defeated champion in the Limited Division Bramwell said it was a “tight match” all the way.

“It came down to who made the least mistakes. I had two misses on the two speed stages due to lapses in visual concentration that cost me valuable points.

“In the end, the match was decided by seven out of 785 points, so it really went down to the wire. But the training continues and I am looking forward to the matches in 2022 to keep improving,” he noted.

Female champion Renee Rickhi described copping the title as “truly an amazing feeling”.

“My female competitors are an amazing set of shooters who I knew were going to bring their ‘A’ game.

“My friends, the Super Six squad, are very unique and we don’t look at it [shooting match] as competing against each other, instead we encourage each one to do our best,” said Rickhi.

She noted that the sky was the limit for women in shooting sport.

“This is a male dominated sport, but there is no reason that with training we ladies can’t become just as good or better than the men are.

“We women listen better and have no egos, and we approach the sport with fun and appreciate the friendships that are formed along the way,” Rickhi reasoned.

Meanwhile, pistol captain at the JRA Al Palmer deemed this year’s level of competition as having “exceeded expectations”.

“World-class shooting took place at our local event, and this now sets the stage for an even higher standard at next year’s Pan Am Games where we expect to field approximately 30 competitors,” he stated.

Palmer said this year’s competition fielded over 50 competitors from across Jamaica, noting that “this is a very encouraging sign as it shows that the sport of practical shooting is alive and well”.

“For next year we can expect more exciting stages, more competitors. We will be attempting to pull sponsors on board, to make our sport mainstream, and we will be targeting more female shooters,” Palmer said.

— Sean Williams