Christian Sasso Shotgun Champion
Photo contributed by: Christian Sasso
Christian Sasso is a giant of Jamaican sports.
He is a four (4) time national shotgun champion and he also competes at the highest level both nationally and internationally. Locally, he competes in Class A and internationally, in the Masters class. Sasso won his 4th national title this year at the All Jamaica Nationals.
He started shooting at the age of 8 years old and participated in his first competitive skeet tournament at the age of 13.
“My first competitive skeet tournament that I can remember was at the age of 13, I won my class and sub-juniors with a score of 99 out of 100,” Sasso said.
Skeet shooting boasts many disciplines, but the one that seems to stand out for Christian and delivers the most points on his scorecard is the fitsac discipline. While it gives him the best results, the fitsac discipline is not his favourite.
“I always seem to shoot well in the fitsac discipline. However, I would definitely not consider it to be my favourite. This is simply because my style of shooting is gun up, whereas fitsac is gun down,” Sasso said.
Christian’s desire to shoot skeet could possibly have been foretold. This is because his family has been part of the industry for decades.
“I got into shooting mainly because of my father. Our family business is one of the leading firearm distributors in Jamaica and I have also been going to bird bush from as young as 4 years old. Overtime, I just developed a liking for it and it has paid off greatly,” Sasso said.
Photo contributed by: Christian Sasso
Preparation for Competitions
Currently, Christian relies mainly on his shooting experience garnered over the years to compete in shooting competitions, but has admitted that he would like to get back into training.
“Over the last few years, I have not trained as much as I should or would like to, I just mainly shoot competitions.”
He continued,
“To prepare for a competition, I try to hydrate a lot and get good rest. Mentally, I picture myself winning and I try to listen to music I like on the day of the competition. I also try to not take it too serious, so that I remain calm. Preparation is key, because it is a demanding sport,” Sasso said.
Photo contributed by: Christian Sasso
International Competitions
“Internationally, there are a few tournaments that I go to compete in. For instance, I go and compete at the Jack Links Cup in Florida. I went to their most recent one held this year. I didn’t place, but I gained valuable experience,” Sasso said.
Sasso added that his most memorable moment came from the 2022 staging of the Jack Links Cup.
“My most memorable moment was at the 2022 Jack Links Cup in Florida where I came out victorious in a shoot off between two great shooters, Joseph Fanizzi and Bill McGuire,” Sasso said.
Christian will be in competitive action again at the 2024 staging of the Jack Links Cup.