Kaushan Samaranayake of Negombo Rifle Club (NRC) emerged the Overall Champion at the ABT
Shooting Nationals 2025 held at the Clay Target Shooting Club of Colombo (CTSCC) Shooting Range in
Payagala. Behind Kaushan, his team mates Rishan Dias finished at second while Ambrith Samaranayake
completed at overall third among the top clay target shooting athletes of the country.
The battle was among the top six clay target shooting athletes out of the 18 prominent finishers, namely
Kaushan Samaranayake, Rishan Dias, Ambrith Samaranayake and Nivantha Waas of NRC and the two
stalwarts from CTSCC, Krishan Daniels and Shiratha Peries, whose fierce challenge made the six-way
final exciting.
After stern rounds for supremacy in the final among the top six contenders, NRC athletes
stole the show by pulling off a top-three finish with Kaushan Samaranayake taking the helm as overall
champion, followed by Rishan Dias at second and Ambrith Samaranayake at third. CTSCC’s veteran
shooting athlete, Shirantha Peries settled in as overall fourth after a close battle for the third position,
followed by Nivantha Waas of NRC, who overcame Krishan Daniels of CTSCC to complete the top six.
NRC also dominated the Team Events, claiming the first two spots, with their NRC Alpha claiming the
top prize. N
RC Beta was placed second with Clay 1 of CTSCC were placed third in team events. Ambrith
Samaranayake of NRC, who was placed third in the Overall Championship, spread his dominance in the
Super Senior Category, by claiming its win. His team mates from NRC, Shiyam Dias and Dallas
Martenstyn were placed second and third respectively. Neeliya Fernando of House of Sports Shooters,
impressed with her performance to claim the win of the Lady Category, while Jason Patterson gave
CTSCC a top finish by claiming the win of the Junior Category. Dimitry Livera of NRC finished at
second, followed by Rehan Perera of Siyane Rifle Shooting Club, at third among juniors.
“This was an event that could be marked as a successful one, with the country’s shooting athletes falling
in line with up-to-date international standards. The NSSF is highly thankful to the President of CTSCC
and Past President of NSSF, Mr. Shirantha Peries, for stepping forward as venue hosts for the all-
important clay target shooting event of the country. The standards of clay target shooting will see new
heights with the intended additions to Automatic Ball Target (ABT) shooting,” stated Pradeep
Edirisinghe, the incumbent President of NSSF.
Conducted by the National Shooting Sport Federation of Sri Lanka (NSSF), the three-day ABT clay
target competition held from January 30th to February 1st, attracted shooting athletes of all age groups
who competed under seven different categories from affiliated clubs, namely hosts Clay Target Shooting
Club of Colombo, Negombo Rifle Club, Siyane Rifle Shooting Club, Magnum Sport Shooting Club, Hill
Country Sport Shooting Club, Wayamba Sport Shooting Club, Puttalam District Sport Shooting Club and
House of Shooters Sport Shooting Academy and Club. Dallas Martenstyn functioned as the Chairman of
Organising Committee, while Nivantha Waas acted as the Match Director for the success of the ABT
Shooting Nationals 2025, which culminated with NSSF Past President Shirantha Peries gracing the
awards ceremony as Chief Guest.
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