Hat-trick of wins for Ja in BWIA Cup
published: Sunday | May 11, 2003
- Contributed Members of Jamaica's victorious rifle shooting team. From left: CC Coley, Jose Nunez, Alvaro Goveia, David Rickman, Major John Nelson, Paul Martin, Denis Lee, Valrie Newman, Dr Keith Hammond, Patrick Cabey and Carl Smith. Coley, Smith, Newman, Hammond, Lee, Nelson and Nunez were all selected to the 20-member West Indies team.
Charmaine Austin, Staff Reporter
JAMAICA MAINTAINED its position as the region's top rifle team by retaining the symbol of shooting supremacy the BWIA Cup.
The 11-member team was captained by John Nelson with Alvaro Goveia serving as adjutant.
Jamaica won the Cup in Trinidad in 2001 and Barbados last year and this year's victory bestows upon them the honour of being the first team to complete a hat-trick of wins.
Widely regarded as the most difficult of places in the region to compete, Guyana offers shooters exhaustive heat, daily rainfall and winds from both directions over the range.
The Jamaicans overcame all those factors to retain the coveted Cup.
The Guyanese riflemen dominated the individual events winning six of the nine up for grabs. Nelson won one of the other three gold medals with Stephen Chung and Marc Homer of Trinidad and Tobago taking the other two.
Those results placed Guyana as the favourites to win the Cup however, confidence was high in the Jamaica camp. The final aggregates of all individual events saw seven Jamaicans making it into the top 20.
Dr. Keith Hammond was the highest placed in seventh place, followed by David Rickman in eighth, Nelson 11th, Canute Coley 12th, Jose Nunez 14th, Paul Martin 18th and Carl Smith 20th.
