Barnes cops multiple awards

Having officially received the fruits of his labour for another standout season, which included the national shotgun title and other top awards at Tuesday night's colourful Jamaica Skeet Club awards banquet, Shaun Barnes remains confident of using those performances as a springboard to launch an international shooting career.

Also in the winners' enclosure was Wendy McMaster, who topped the Hunters Class section, a new category introduced earlier this year. She copped an emphatic eight awards on the night despite only just shooting competitively since January.

The annual function was held at the Jade Gardens Restaurant in Sovereign Centre, located in Liguanea, St Andrew.

Meanwhile, Barnes, on Sunday, copped a fifth national championship at Woodleigh in Clarendon and was the toast of the night, which saw him adding five trophies to his already impressive repertoire.

Barnes took home the Metry Seaga Cup, runner-up in the Harry Chen Cup, Fistac Champion, the Frankson Cup, and the JC Thwaites Crystal.

He accumulated 19 points from the four championship shooting disciplines of Fitasc, 5-Stand, Super Sporting, and Sporting Clays, where he overcame last year's champion Christian Sasso by 16 points, despite trailing him by six points prior to last weekend's sporting clays.

The champion considered it a season of hard work and seeing that hard work pay off.

"It is a springboard going forward. I want to go away this year and shoot the Texas State and see where I stand up against the big boys (overseas competition)," he said.

EXPOSURE AND EXPERIENCE

"They have a lot of different presentations and a lot of stuff that I am not accustomed to, so I just want the exposure to gain more experience and take it to them," Barnes told The Gleaner, adding that he believed that he has evolved enough over the years and grown enough in competition to challenge for an international title.

Khaleel Azan, president of the Jamaica Skeet Club, who underlined the improvements among the women, also added, "This was a good year for the sport, and the young shooters did well during the year, and so the club was in good hands for the future."

The Jamaica Skeet Club used a Special Award, on the night, to thank Past President Albert Seaga (1995-2003) for his contribution to the development of shotgun shooting and The Jamaica Skeet Club. His son, Metry Seaga, received it on his behalf.

Maurice Foster of Power 106, Sherdon Cowan of the Observer, and Shayne Fairman of The Gleaner were awarded for their service in the coverage of the sport.

CLASS WINNERS

A Class:

Geoffrey Ziadie

Bobby Chung

Ian Banks

B Class:

Mark Barnes

Andrew Hopwood

Evan Thwaites

C Class:

Jordan Thwaites

Peter Mahfood

Matthew Josephs

D Class:

Alex Cunningham

Omar Francis

E Class

Tomas Hudson won the Tony Kelly Cup (founder of the Jamaica Skeet Club).

Fitasc Champion:

Leighton Sasso

Bobby Chung, runner-up

Five Stand:

Joey Chin

Ray McMaster, runner-up.

Super Sporting:

Shaun Barnes

Christian Sasso, runner-up

Sporting Clays:

Shaun Barnes

Errol Ziadie, runner-up

Tony Kelly Classic Skeet (new event on the calendar)

David Lazarus

Shaun Barnes, runner-up.

Hugh Croskery Cup:

Christian Sasso

Robert Yap Foo, runner up.