Waas win overall title, as Negombo RC rule Trap Open
Nivantha Waas of Negombo Rifle Club (NRC) bagged the overall title while his team mates Rishan Dias and Kaushan Samaranayake outsmarted the rest at the NSSF Trap Open Meet 2025, which concluded at the Clay Target Shooting Club of Colombo Range in Payagala.
Waas accumulated 35 points in the finals while fellow NRC shooter Rishan Dias finished at second with 33 points. Defending champion Kaushan Samaranayake, the third representation of NRC in the final round, finished ahead at third with 22 points, as Clay Target Shooting Club of Colombo (CTSCC) athletes Johann Fernando, Jeremy Fernando and Krishan Daniels finished behind the top three medal winners.
Trap Open 2025 champion Nivantha Waas (centre) with Rishan Dias (left), who was placed second and third-placed Kaushan Samaranayake (right)
But it was Rishan Dias of NRC who dominated the Senior Male category with 38 points to claim the gold medal, as Jeremy Fernando of CTSCC finished behind close at second with 36 points. KRC’s Kaushan Samaranayake pipped out Krishan Daniels of CTSCC to claim the third place with 34 points.
Shiyam Dias of NRC helped his club dominate the four-day meet by claiming their third medal, the Super Senior category, with a stunning and close victory against team mate Ambrith Samaranayake. Both were locked at 31 points each during the final round, but Dias edged out to emerge as the champion of the final where fellow team mate Nihal Perera ended up at third place with 28 points.
Fazeena Jainulabdeen of CTSCC scored 13 points to outclass Anupama Rathnayeka and Shalika Liyanarachchi of Army Small Arms Association to clinch the Senior Female category with ease. The Junior Male category was a battle between NRC team mates Dimitry Livera and Senith Rathnayake, in which the former emerged champions with a difference of six points, after accumulating 18 points.
Negombo Rifle Club Alpha, consisting of Ambrith Samaranayake, Rishan Dias and Kaushan Samaranayake outclassed the rest to clinch the Teams category with a tally of 103 points. Kirshan Daniels, Johann Fernando and Jeremy Fernando of CTSCC secured the second place with 97 points, while the NRC Beta, consisting of Shiyam Dias, Nivantha Waas and Nihal Perera, was place third with 91 points.
Nearly 70 shooters competed at the NSSF Trap Open Meet 2025, an annual top end event conducted by the National Shooting Sports Federation of Sri Lanka (NSSF). Shooters representing Clay Target Shooting Club of Colombo, Negombo, Magnum, Puttalam, Siyane, Hill Country, Army Small Arms and Wayamba sport shooting clubs vied for honours at this year’s edition, which usually serves as a trial for updating the national pool and for future international events.
Winners were awarded with medals and certificates, as well as for the first three positions of the Overall and Team segments. Under the leadership of NSSF President Shirantha Peiris, the four-day competition was conducted with the able assistance of Competition Director Mohan Gilbert and Assistant Competition Director Dinesh Lionel.