Kaushan Samaranayake of Negombo Rifle Shooting Club (NRC) created a national record, while his team mate Rishan Dias bagged the overall title at the NSSF Trap National Championship 2024 which concluded last weekend at the Clay Target Shooting Club of Colombo Range in Payagala.
Samaranayake accumulated a record breaking tally of 103 points from the five rounds, a rare feat achieved by a local shooter in the trap discipline of clay target shooting.
National record holder Kaushan Samaranayake of Negombo Rifle Shooting Club (right) with team-mate and father Ambrith Samaranayake
Fellow NRC shooter Rishan Dias finished at second with 98 points while Jeremy Fernando of Clay Target Shooting Club of Colombo (CTSCC) finished third with 92 points.
However, in the final round, the battle became a two way affair between Rishan Dias and Jeremy Fernando, in which the former emerged victorious with 38 points. Fernando claimed the silver medal with 33 points while Samaranayake had to settle with the bronze medal after accumulating 24 points.
Samaranayake however claimed the gold medal in the Men’s Open category with 43 points among nearly 40 other contenders who were in the fray.
CTSCC’s Jeremy Fernando won the silver medal with 41 points.
Anupama Ratnayake of Army Small Arms (ASAA) won the gold medal in the female Open category, as she overpowered the challenge possessed by team mate Shalika Liyanarachchi and Fazeena Jainulabdeen of CTSCC who claimed the silver and bronze medals respectively.
Shirantha Peries of CTSCC edged out Ambrith Samaranayake of NRC to claim the Master’s category gold medal after gaining the upper-hand by a single point. Peries obtained 36 points while Samaranayake, who finished with a tally of 35+1 points, had to walk away with the silver medal.
Dimitry Livera of NRC dominated the Junior Male category to claim the gold medal while Nethum Damsuka and Mahen Adeesha, both representing HOSSSAC, won the silver and bronze medals respectively.
Reinya Ranasinghe of Hill Country RSC was dominant in the Junior Female category, as she outsmarted Anitra Dharmaratne of CTSCC and Sithuli Sirimanne of HOSSSAC to claim the gold medal.
Negombo Rifle Shooting Club (NRC) totally dominated the Team event as four of their teams finished among the top five. NRC Alpha, represented by Kaushan Samaranayake, Ambrith Samaranayake and Rishan Dias, came on top with 115 points while NRC 692, which included Nihal Perera, Shiyam Dias and Nivantha Waas, claimed the silver medal after accumulating 96 points. The bronze medal was claimed by NRC Clay Busters, represented by Dallas Martenstyn, Mohan Gilbert and Sean Silva who put together 91 points to their team.
Over 70 shooters competed at the NSSF Trap National Championship 2024, an annual event conducted by the National Shooting Sports Federation of Sri Lanka (NSSF). Shooters representing various clubs vied for honours at this year’s edition, which also serves as a trial for updating the national pool and for future international events.
Winners of the Junior, Open, Masters and Ladies were awarded medals and certificates, as well as for the first three positions of the Overall and Team segments.
Under the leadership of NSSF President Shirantha Peiris, the four-day competition was conducted with the able assistance of Competition Director Mohan Gilbert and Assistant Competition Director Dinesh Lionel.
