11 new national records tumble
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Atheeq Ur Rahman
Two of the most important events of the National Shooting Sport Federation of Sri Lanka (NSSF) calendar – the 22 National Championship and National Airgun Championship – for the year 2022, were conducted successfully over the past few months at two locations with 11 national records being established.
Among all shooters, W.M.S.Y. Perera of Sri Lanka Navy Musketry, stole the limelight among many others, when she claimed the .22 50m Rifle 3×20 and .22 50m Prone events in the Women’s category, claiming the national records in both events.
Held at the Naval Shooting Range in Welisara, Perera showed her class to outsmart other competitors and complete the Kneeling, Prone and Standing styles with a total of 585 points in the .22 50m Rifle 3×20 event. Her closest contender was G.G.U.N. Ruparathna of Sri Lanka Air Force, who was way behind with 567 points.
However, she was given a hard run in the .22 50m Prone event by two of her team-mates from the SLN Musketry – K.K.G. Perera and D.L.A.M. Kumari. After the halfway of six rounds, the battle was clearly between the two Pereras, and eventually it was W.M.S.Y. who emerged victorious by a thin margin.
Another close battle evidently occurred in the .22 25m Sport Pistol Women event after Ruwini Abeymanna of Sri Lanka Police and K.S.C.G. Kendawala of Army Small Arm (SLAA) were locked at 567 points each. Both shooters had to complete a tiebreaker round to determine the winner, and Abeymanna overcame the challenge by scoring 48 points against Kendawala’s 43. Both accounted for the national record of the event after finishing at 567 points each.
Other three shooters who claimed national records were W.K.Y. Krishantha and W.M.K. Kumara of SLN Musketry and young and aspiring Pranatha Edirisinghe of Clay Target Shooting Club of Colombo (CTSCC). Krishantha finished on top in the .22 50m Rifle 3×20 Men event with 573 points while Kumara finished with 556 points to claim the .22 25m Rapid Fire Men event. Young Edirisinghe claimed the national record after scoring 470.5 points in the .22 50m Prone Junior Men event.
Five national records were established as Schools Section (SLSSSA) shooters dominated the NSSF National Airgun Championship held at the National Airgun Range in Kohuwela. International medal potential Nehasha Weerasinghe of SLSSSA claimed the national record in 10m Air Pistol Women – Junior, where she completed the event with a dominating tally of 550 points. Atheeq Ur Rahman, another international medal potential, ended with a staggering tally of 560 points to win the 10m Air Pistol Men – Junior event, in addition to claiming its national record.
A close competition was evident in the 10m Air Rifle Women – Youth event among two shooters representing SLSSSA, but it was Neja Dassanayake who emerged victorious at the end. Not only she won the event with a tally of 611.4 points, but also claimed the national record for the event. S.D. Galagedara finished close behind with 610.9 points, but had to settle at second place.
Imalshan Tharusha of SLSSA claimed the national record by a whisker, after scoring 550 points to win the 10m Air Pistol Men – Youth event from team-mate Prabhashwara Sarathchandra, who finished second with 549 points.
Experienced shooter and international star Tehani Egodawela of Cambrian SSC, claimed the record of the 10m Air Rifle Women – Open event with a tally of 617.7 points, but after a close contention with W.M.S.Y. Perera of SLN Musketry. Despite being tied after the first round, Perera gained slender lead, but Egodawela bounced back in the third and fourth rounds to gain a clear lead. She lost the remaining two rounds by close margins, but her performances in the previous two rounds were sufficient for a close win against Perera, who finished with a total of 616.3 points.
| Results: | |
.22 50m Rifle 3×20 Men 1: W.K.Y. Krishantha (SLN Musketry) 573 – NR 2: S.M.M. Samarakoon (ASAA) 566 3: W.A.J.R. Hemachandra (ASAA) 562 .22 50m Rifle 3×20 Women 1: W.M.S.Y. Perera (SLN Musketry) 585 – NR 2: G.G.U.N. Ruparathna (SLAF) 567 3: K.K.G. Perera (SLN Musketry) 566 .22 25m Rapid Fire Men 1: W.M.K. Kumara (SLN Musketry) 556 – NR 2: K.A.D.S. Bandara (SLAF) 527 3: D.G.N. Karunarathna (ASAA) 509 .22 25m Sport Pistol Women 1: R. Abeymanna (Police) 567 (TB48) – NR 2: K.S.C.G. Kendawala (ASAA 567 (TB43) – NR 3: W.G.S. Priyadarshani (SLN) 557 .22 50m Prone Junior Men 1: Pranatha Edirisinghe (CTSCC) 470.5 – NR .22 50m Prone Open Men 1: H.D.P. Kumara (SLN Musketry) 617.7 2: W.K.Y. Krishantha (SLN Musketry) 613.6 3: S.M.M. Samarakoon (ASAA) 612.6 .22 50m Prone Women 1: W.M.S.Y. Perera (SLN Musketry) 613.8 – NR 2: K.K.G. Perera (SLN Musketry) 611.6 3: D.L.A.M. Kumari (SLN Musketry) 600.4
10m Air Pistol Women – Youth 1: Seja Dassanayake (SLSSSA) 532 (x5) 2: H.M. Kavindi Maheshika Herath (SLSSSA) 518 (x5) 3: Varsha Bhavana de Silva (SLSSSA) 515 (x6) 10m Air Pistol Women – Junior 1: W.H.A.V. Nehasha Weerasinghe (SLSSSA) 550 (x8) – NR 2: B.A.T.S. Navodya (SLSSSA) 530 (x4) 3: Nathasha Hendalage (SLSSSA) 530 (x4) 10m Air Pistol Men – Youth 1: B.M.A. Imalshan Tharusha (SLSSSA) 550 (x3) – NR 2: U.J.S. Prabhashwara Sarathchandra (SLSSSA) 549 (x6) 3: Chanuka Wijendra (SLSSSA) 531 (x6) 10m Air Pistol Men – Junior 1: M.R. Atheeq Ur Rahman (SLSSSA) 560 (x14) – NR 2: L.L.B. Wijayaratna (SLSSSA) 550 (x9) 3: Movindu Wijenayake (SLSSSA) 539 (x7) 10m Air Pistol Women – Open 1: A.I.D.A. Kulathunga (ASAA) 561 (x9) 2: J.A.R. Priyangika Ranasinghe (SLAF) 3: K.G.D.T. Dilrukshi (SLN Musketry) 547 (x6) 10m Air Pistol Men – Open 1: Akila Vidanage (SLSSSA) 565 (x5) 2: D.M.S.M. Dissanayake (SLN Musketry) 3: M.A.S.B. Ranasinghe (SLAF) 559 (x8) 10m Air Rifle Women – Youth 1: Neja Dassanayake (SLSSSA) 611.4 – NR 2: S.D. Galagedara (SLSSSA) 610.9 3: Hasunika Amarasinghe (CTSCC) 598.3 10m Air Rifle Men – Youth 1: M.M. Abhilash Indisa (SLSSSA) 600.0 2: Randhir Senaratne (SLSSSA) 594.4 3: Pavith Tevin Rodrigo (SLSSSA) 589.3 10m Air Rifle Women – Junior 1: D.P. Ashini Chamoda Senadeera (Athugala SSC) 608.3 2: M.T. Prarthana (ASAA) 603.0 3: Hasini Sulakkana Siriwardena 10m Air Rifle Men – Junior 1: P.H. Randeepa Suraweera 2: W.D.T. Weerapana (ASAA) 586.4 3: P. Tashen Mitheesha (SLSSSA) 580.2 10m Air Rifle Women – Open 1: Tehani Egodawela (Cambrian SSC) 2: W.M.S.Y. Perera (SLN Musketry) 616.3 3: W.G.J. Madushani (ASAA) 614.7 10m Air Rifle Men – Open 1: U.D.S. Ranganath (SLN Musketry) 612.6 2: H.D.P. Kumara (SLN Musketry) 607.0 3: P.K.J.S. Gayanga (ASAA) 606.1 |