DaSilva, Braithwaite & Rajiv are Class winners

THE Smallbore section of the Guyana National Rifle Shooting Association (GuyanaNRA) fired off their 2021 season in style last Sunday at the Timehri Rifle Ranges with an Action Pistol Match, sponsored by Orinduik Development Inc. and Aquafina.
When the dust cleared after five competitive stages, Dr Johan DaSilva amassed 309 points to win the A-Class competition, ahead of Azad Hassan (291 points) and Satya Dayaram who ended on 284 points. DaSilva won Stage 3 with 40 points as opposed to Dayaram’s 33 and Hassan’s, 32. Stage 5 also went to DaSilva who tallied 90 points while Hassan (78) and Dayaram (70) followed closely. Stage 1 saw DaSilva and Dayaram ending on 126 points apiece with Hassan one point less on 125.

Stage 2 was taken by Hassan with 25 points as DaSilva and Dayaram totalled 15 each. Dayaram ruled the roost in Stage 4 with 40 points ahead of DaSilva with 38 and Hassan, 31.
Known much more for his exploits with the rifle as a top shooter in Guyana and the Caribbean and who also holds his own further afield, Lennox Braithwaite won the B-Class shoot with a total of 280 points ahead of fellow rifleman Roberto Tiwari who garnered 274 points, with third place going to Joshua Ramlakan who accumulated 270 points. Braithwaite got off to a fine start with victory in Stage 1, tallying 134 points to Ramlakan’s 129 and Tiwari’s, 116. Braithwaite maintained his hold even though he shared the top spot in Stage 2 with Ramlakan (25 points each) while Tiwari managed 10 points.

Tiwari and Ramlakan shared the spoils for Stage 3 with 34 points apiece and Braithwaite accumulated 25 points. Braithwaite was back to winning ways in Stage 4, putting together 43 points to top Ramlakan’s 34 and Tiwari’s, 32.
Stage 5 was won by Tiwari who racked up 82 points ahead of Braithwaite’s 53 and Ramlakan, who got 48 points.
The C-Class was ruled by Rajiv Latchana with 269 points ahead of runner-up Yonelle DeAbreu (261) and Stefan John (245). After falling four points behind after Stage 1 which was taken by De Abreu (114 points), Latchana ensured he was more accurate, hitting the target in Stage 2 as he ended on 25-points with DeAbreu stuck on 15.

Stage 3 was won by Latchana with 40 points as DeAbreu (31) and John (19) made up the other top spots. Latchana and John ended Stage 4 with 39 points apiece while DeAbreu had 31. Stage 5 was taken by John who fired his way to 66 points to outshoot Latchana (61) and DeAbreu (60).
The top three shooters in each of the three classes were rewarded with trophies, compliments of the sponsor.
At the end of the tournament, GuyanaNRA Smallbore captain Dale Hing expressed thanks to the sponsor and all the shooters for making the opening event for 2021 a resounding success whilst promising that the season would be a very hectic one.