Jessica Rossi and PEter Sidi have been voted as “2009 Shooters of the Year” by a special commission of the AIPS, the International Sport Press Association.

Jessica Rossi of Italy and Peter Sidi of Hungary are the “Shooters of the Year 2009”. The two athletes were named as best shooters of the past season by the members of the International Association of Shooting Sport Journalists, a commission of the International Sports Press Association (AIPS). Rossi and Sidi won the votes of the delegates thanks to their outstanding performances throughout the 2009 ISSF World Cup Series, World and Continental Championships.

Jessica Rossi, an Italian Trap Shooter, won the most of the commission’s votes, securing the title with 76 points. During the 2009 season, when she was still 17-year old, the prodigious athlete conquered the World Title at the ISSF World Championship of Maribor (SLO), facing and beating experienced champions on her way to the highest step of the podium. Nobody could resist Rossi’s perfect rhythm, this year. The Italian phenomenon won also at the European Championship held in Osijek (CRO), and placed twice on the podium during the ISSF World Cup Series, claiming Silver both in Cairo and Munich. Rossi turned eighteen the last 7^th of January, and the new year brought her a new challenge: the 2010 World Championship in all events in Munich, where the first Olympic quota places of London 2012 will be awarded. Will she defend her title, gaining an entrance ticket for her first Games?

Peter Sidi, a 31-year old Rifle ace-shooter, became the 2009 Shooter of the Year with 75 points thanks to the breathtaking series of extreme results he nailed throughout the season. Sidi, an Olympic finalist of Beijing in the Air Rifle Men event, won medals shooting on all distances, this year. At the European Championship of Osijek (CRO), he claimed a clamorous Gold medal at the 300m Rifle Three Positions Men event by setting a new World Record of 1184 points, finishing in first with nine points of advantage on his followers. Sidi became the “rifle king” of Osijek by winning also the 50m Rifle Three Positions Men match, climbing up the scoreboard throughout a severe final round. The Hungarian athlete displayed his skills also on world-level arenas, grabbing a Gold medal at the ISSF World Cup in Beijing and a Silver medal in Munich. Sidi closed then the season on the podium at the ISSF World Cup Final in Wuxi (CHN), when he placed in second at the 10m Air Rifle Men event.

The 2010 season is yet to start and ready to challenge the two shooting champions. The first ISSF World Cup Stage will kick-off in Acapulco, Mexico, where Shotgun shooters will meet after the long winter break on the 1st  of May. The Olympic Shooting Range of Sydney, Australia, will host the first 2010 World Cup Stage in Rifle and Pistol events, starting from the 20th of March. The International shooting season will then climax right up to the 50th ISSF World Championships in all events of Munich, next July, where more then 2000 athletes will participate in the biggest shooting competition ever, trying to secure the first London 2012’ Olympic Quota Places.

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50m Running Target Mixed Men – Two shoot-offs closed the match.
Two shoot-offs closed an exciting 50m Running Target Mixed Men competition, at the 2009 ISSF Running Target World Championship in Heinola.
After finishing the match with a tied score of 392 points, Maxim STEPANOV of Russia met the home shooter Steffan HOLMSTROM of Finland in shoot-off for Gold. After the first shoot-off round, both the athlete had shot an equal shoot-off score of 18 points. The second shoot-off round solved the contest in favour of the 29-year old STEPANOV, who claimed Gold beating HOLMSTROM 19 to 18 points.
After scoring 391 points, Niklas BERGSTROEM of Sweden won the shoot-off for Bronze, beating 20 to 19 points the Russian shooter KOLESOV.

The Russian Federation claimed the Team Gold, totalizing a score of 1169 points scored by Maxim STEPANOV, Igor KOLESOV and Alexander IVANOV. Following only one point behind, Finland placed in second, shooting Silver with a total of 1168 points, while Team Bronze went to Czech Republic with a score of 1158 points.

50m Running Target Men – Stepanov equalled the World Record.
Russia’s Maxim STEPANOV, 29 won the 50m Running Target Men event with a total score of 596 points, equalling the World Record set by Niclai LAPIN (URS) in 1987. STEPANOV’s record score left no chances to his opponents. Finland’s Krister HOLMBERG finished in second place six points behind him, with a total of 590 points, while Bronze went to the Slovakian shooter Peter PELACH, third with 589 points after winning a shoot-off against Russia’s ROMANOV.

Thanks to STEPANOV’s record score, and to the results of his teammates ROMANOV and KOLESOV, Russia secured the Team Gold with a total score of 1768 points. HOLMBERG’s Finland finished in second place, claiming Silver with an overall score of 1752 points, while Slovakia finished in third winning Team Bronze with 1745 points.

50m Running Target Men Junior – Boros claimed Gold with a 10-point advantage.
The 19-year old Czech athlete Lazlo BOROS claimed the 50m Running Target Men Junior Gold medal at the 2009 ISSF Running Target World Championship in Heinola. The junior shooter, a multi-medallist of this Running Target World Championship, finished in the lead with a total score of 587 points, putting ten points between him and his followers.
Finland’s Tomi-Pekka HEIKKILA finished in second securing Silver with a total of 577 points, after outdoing Russia’s Mikhail AZARENKO 19 to 18 points in a shoot-off. The two-time Gold medallist AZARENKO finished in third place, winning Bronze.

The Russian Federation finished on the highest step of the Team Podium, securing Gold with a total of 1725 points. Team Silver went to Finland with 1710 points, while Bronze went to Ukraine (1689 points).

Results:
Check the results of the 2009 ISSF Running Target World Championship.

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The 2009 ISSF Shotgun World Championship has been closed by today’s Skeet Men Final won by USA’s Vincent HANCOCK. The championship saw the participation of more then 600 shooters coming from 70 countries, the youngest being 12-year old, the oldest 59. The competition took place at the Gaj Shooting Range in the outskirts of Maribor (SLO) from the 6th through the 17th of August.

“In behalf of the ISSF President Mr. Olegario Vazquez Raña and of the ISSF Secretary General Mr. Horst G. Schreiber, I would like to thanks the delegations, the athletes and the Organizing Committee of this ISSF World Championship;” said Mr. Demetris F. Lordos of Cyprus, the ISSF Technical Delegate for this Championship.

“We experienced in a wonderful competition in wonderful city, thank you all!” Concluded Mr. Lordos, greeted by the President of the Organizing Committee, Mr. Igor Rakusa “It was a great honour to host you here, I hope you will bring back good memories of Maribor.” Mr. Rakusa said.

The medal standings: Italy leaded the Championship

The Italian Shotgun team finished atop of the medal standings, winning an impressive total of 15 medals (also considering the team medals). Italy finished in first with the highest number of individual medals: three Gold, two Silver and four Bronzes.

Following in second place, the United States of America secured a total of ten medals, winning one individual Gold and two individual Silver medals. The Russian Federation closed the 2009 ISSF Shotgun World Championship in third place, with a total of six medals, and one individual medal of each colour.

The overral medal standings (including team medals)

The medal standings (individual medals only)

Five new World Records

Five new World Records were established during the 2009 ISSF World Championship, and two World Records were equalled. The United States of America contributed for the most part in the new records set during the competition, with two new World Records and one Equalled World Record.

- New World Records –

Skeet Men Team: 366 Targets – Vincent HANCOCK; Shawn DULOHERY; Frank THOMPSON (USA)

Trap Women Team: 211 Targets – Jessica ROSSI, Deborah GELISIO, Giulia IANNOTTI (ITA)

Trap Women Junior Team: 202 Targets – QI Qiuwen, XU Tian, WANG Yajun (CHN)

Skeet Women Junior: 74 Targets – Therese LUNDQVIST (SWE)

Skeet Women Junior Team: 204 Targets – Amber ENGLISH; Alexander CHIANG; Caitlin CONNER (USA)

- Equalled World Records –

Double Trap Men Team: 430 Targets – Jeffrey HOLGUIN, Joshua RICHMOND, Walton ELLER (USA)

Trap Women: 74 Targets – Satu MAKELA-NUMMELA (FIN)

Next challenge: ISSF World Cup Finals

59 shooters coming from 25 nations qualified to take part in the next ISSF world-level event, this year’s ISSF Shotgun World Cup Final, which will take place in Beijing from the 29^th of October to the 3^rd of November. The match will take place at the Olympic CTF Shooting Range of Beijing, the venue of the last Olympic Games.

Check who qualified for this year’s World Cup Final!

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The Title Defenders of the 2007 World Championships of Nicosia are running for a second title. It’s not going to be easy: they will face Olympic Champions, World Cup winners and new, young, strong shooters.

The first “shooters to beat” at the 2009 ISSF Shotgun World Championships of Maribor will be the title defenders, those who won on the ranges of the 2007 World Championships of Cyprus. All of them all still shooting, and they will almost certainly try to defend their titles in Nicosia. Maribor’s challenge is coming closer; let’s meet the title defenders!

Trap Men: Diamond, Kostelecky and Pellielo are in the game.
Michael Diamond of Australia, the winner of the 2007 World Championship in the Trap Men event, has been one of the protagonists of the 2009 ISSF World Cup season, and he has shot is last final match at the last World Cup Stage of the year, in San Marino. He will probably face the 2008 Olympic Silver medallist Giovanni Pellielo, who said to be ready for this year’s World Championships. “I just changed my shotgun, but I got used to it quickly. Now I am positively looking forward to the next competitions…” Said Pellielo, right after winning the World Cup Stage in Minsk. Meeting them in Maribor, the 2008 Olympic Champion David Kostelecky of Czech Republic, Silver medallist at this year’s ISSF World Cup in San Marino, will look for his first World Championship title. The Czech Champion said to be ready, and will probably be one of the strongest shooters to beat on the ranges of Maribor.

Double Trap Men: D’Aniello faces many opponents.
The 2007 Double Trap winner Francesco D’Aniello of Italy, coming from the Olympic Silver medal won in Beijing, shot good matches during this year’s World Cup Series, and he will try to peak in time for the World Championships “The World Championships is my next goal!” he said in Minsk, this year. He will have to face strong competitors. First of all Beijing’s Olympic Champion, Walton Eller of the USA, and then the record setter Hu Binyuan of China (who established a new 196-target records in Minsk) and the keen Indian shooter Ronjan Sodhi, second at this year’s World Cup in Minsk with a consistent score of 194 hits.

Trap Women: Is Liu Yingzi peaking for the Championships?
The 28-year old Chinese shooter Liu Yingzi, the 2007 World Champion, showed to be ready to run for a second title at this year’s ISSF World Cup in Minsk, where she won her first World Cup Gold medal shooting under the rain. Is she peaking for the World Championship? What is sure is that strong competitors are in front of her. The Olympic Champion of Beijing, Satu Makela-Nummela of Finland, did not reach her best results through this year’s World Cup Series, but she has been proving more then once to be able to shoot great performances. At the same time, the young Olympic Silver and Bronze medallists of Beijing, the Slovakian shooters Zuzana Stefecekova and the American Corey Cogdell could peak in time for the World Championships of Maribor, trying to gain a spot on the most important podium of the year.

Skeet Women: Olympic Medallists face to face.
The Skeet Women title defender is the German shooter Christine Brinker, Olympic Bronze medallist of the 2008 Olympic Games of Beijing. On the road to the 2009 ISSF World Championships of Maribor, she is facing strong opponents. First of all, Beijing’s Olympic Champion Chiara Cainero of Italy, who won the last World Cup in San Marino overtaking the same Brinker. The American shooter Kimberly Rodhe, Silver medallist of the last Olympic Games, will also be a difficult opponents to beat for Brinker. Rodhe finished on ISSF World Cup podiums more then once, this year, and she will surely look for a spot on Maribor’s medal standings.
Coming in next, three different shooters, Wei Ning of China, Danka Bartekova of Slovakia and Svetlana Demina of Russia, won an ISSF World Cup Gold medal this year, presenting themselves as three of the strongest 2009 shooters.

Skeet Men: Georgios Achilleos is back in the lead
The reigning Skeet Men Champion, the Cypriot shooter Georgios Achilleos, is back in the lead. Following the delusion of the Olympic Games, where he walked into the match as the number one in the world missing then the podium, he seems now to be back in his best shape. The Cypriot shooters came back on the highest step of an ISSF podium at the World Cup in San Marino “It’s great to be back on top. But now I am looking forward, we have a busy year with the Mediterranean Games, the Europeans and the World Championships… I will try my best!” He said in San Marino.
He will face the three Olympic medallists of Beijing, three shooters he has being meeting many times in finals within the last four years. The Olympic Champion, USA’s Vincent Hancock, Beijing’s Silver, Norway’s Tore Brovold, and the Olympic Bronze, France’s Anthony Terras, are three strong competitors who finished on several ISSF podiums since the 2008 ISSF World Cup Final of Minsk. They all will try to grab Achilleos’ title in Maribor, where we are probably going to witness a breathtaking Skeet Men Final.

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“I had memories of the Olympic Games going through my mind” said Sanderson, who had competed in this range at the last Games, struggling during the Olympic final round, and eventually landing in fifth place. He said: “I’ve been replaying the Olympic final and these targets so many times, after the Games, that I still remember them”

“I had so many things going through my head, today” Sanderson concluded “I am happy I was able to win the Gold medal. Next stop: Munich, for the next world cup stage”.

India’s Vijay KUMAR, a 23-year old shooter, 26th in the World Ranking, climbed all the way from the fourth place to win silver with 780.4 points (581+199.4). His score in the final match, 199.4 points, turned out to be the highest of today’s competition.

The Indian athlete had never won an ISSF medal in this event, but Beijing seems to be his favourite range. Here he had indeed shot his best placement, when he had finished in seventh place at the 2008 pre-Olympic world cup.

Bronze was secured by Japan’s Teruyoshi AKIMATA, 37, a long-course shooter who had never entered a world cup final-match before. AKIMATA shot the second highest final score, 198.5 points, climbing from the sixth place he had after the qualifications. The Japanese shooter grabbed his first world-level medal with a total score of 777.5 points (579+198.5).

Russia’s Dmitry BRAYKO finished in fourth place with 776.1 points (581+195.1), followed by Jan-Marcel GOELDEN of Germany, fifth with 774.4 pts (580+194.4) and by Jeorge LLAMES of Spain, sixth with 773.7 pts (581+192.7).

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The 36-year old Russian shooter placed in first since the qualifications, and shot gold with a total score of 679.9 points (578+101.9) after managing a consistent head-start throughout the 10 final shots. GALKINA, one of the most expert rifle shooter of the actual shooting scene, had struggled at the last Games held on these lines last August. She had placed in fourth after a tough match eventually won by China’s DU Li.

The host country, China, secured silver and bronze thanks to XIONG Meili and WAN XIangyan.

XIONG Meili, 22, placed in second winning silver with 675.8 points (577+98.8), an exceptional result considering that she had never competed in a world-level event before.

XIONG’s team-mate, 22-year old WAN Xiangyan, shot Bronze, her second international medal following the silver she claimed at the last ISSF World Cup Stage held in Changwon last week. WAN shot a qualification score of 568 points, entering the medal match in seventh place. Then she scored the best final, climbing to the podium with 102.7 points.

WAN won her race for the podium defeating on the last shot the Japanese finalist Yuka NAKAMURA, 21-year old, competing in her first final today. She fired a last shot of 9.8 points, which could not stand to WAN’s 10.8, finishing in fourth with a score of 669.7 points.

Germany’s Claudia KECK, 23, debuted in the final hall, today. Qualified with 570 points, she fired a final of 99.6 points, placing in fifth with a total of 669.6 points. She preceded the France athlete Soleig BIBARD, 29, sixth with 668.0 pts (569+99.0) and the Finnish shooter Hanna ETULA, 28, seventh with 666.7 pts (569+97.7).

Israel’s Chen TAL, who had never entered a world cup final round before, placed in eight with 661.3 pts (568+93.3).

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Shi’s team-mate MAI Jiajie, 21-year old, followed his older team-mate on the podium by shooting silver with 682.8 points (582+100.8). The young athlete won several junior awards, like a bronze at the 2006 ISSF World Championships of Zagreb and a gold at the 2007 Asian Championships, but he had never made into the senior team to compete in a world cup before.

The long experienced 38-year old shooter Yury DAUHAPOLAU finished on the podium grabbing Bronze at the last shot with a total score of 682.5 points (583+99.5). Belarus’ pistol champion came from a fourth place at the European Championships, held last February in Prague, and gave his best to secure a spot on the podium here in Beijing. Starting in second place after the qualifications, he shot neck and neck against the two Chinese team-mates right to the end. An unlucky shot, an 8.7 fired on his ninth competition shot, pushed him in third place, where he closed the match only 3 tenths behind China’s Mai.

Rashid YUNUSMETOV, the Kazakh shooter who won the 50m Pistol event held two days ago, made into his second consecutive medal match. His qualification score of 581 points, and a final of 98.0 points, stopped him in eight place.

Germany’s Patrik LENGERER, 27, finished the first final round of his career in fourth place with 681.5 pts (585+96.5). He was followed by Russia’s Vladimir GONTCHAROV, fifth with 680.6 pts (582+98.6), and by Pavol KOPP of Slovakia, sixth with 680.5 pts (582+99.5). Denis KOULAKOV, the second Russian shooter, placed seventh with 680.2 pts (581+99.2).

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Warren Potent, 47, is proving to be one of the leading shooters of the world in the rifle prone event. Within the ISSF World Cup Series, he has won three consecutive gold medals (2008 World Cup Final, 2009 World Cup stage Changwon and today’s final). Statistics show a terrific average: starting from the World Cup Stage Sydney in 2007, he has made into 7 different world cup medal matches, winning 4 golds and 2 silvers.

Today’s silver went to France’s Jossellin HENRY, who won his second consecutive silver medal in this event, again behind Potent. The 26-year old France athlete shot 698.8 points (595+103.8), upsetting USA’s Michael MCPHAIL at the last shot.

Mcphail climbed from the seventh place to close the match in third place, winning Bronze with 698.7 points (594+104.7). The American shooter fired the best final, with an average close to 10.5 points per shot, but he missed silver because of one tenth of a point.

Valerian SAUVEPLANE of France finished in fourth place with 698.4 points (595+103.4); USA’s Eric UPTAGRAFFT placed fifth with 697.1 pts (594+103.1); India’s Gagan NARANG placed sixth with 696.6 pts (595+101.6); Olympic 10m Air Rifle Bronze medallist Henri HAKKINEN shot his first final round in the prone event, finishing in seventh place with 696.5 pts (595+101.5).
China’s ZHANG Senmao, who had debuted in the ISSF world cup series in Changwon last week, placed in eighth with 695.6 points (594+101.6).

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YIN’s teammate YI Siling, today’s youngest finalist (19-year old) closed the match in second place, winning Silver with 501.5 points (399+102.5).

Olympic Bronze medallist Snjezana PEJCIC of Croatia, who had won her Olympic podium on these shooting lines, placed in third with 500.7 points (399+101.7). She led the match right to the last shot, when a she fired a fatal 9.6 that pushed her in third.

Today’s third Chinese finalist WANG Bing Ying placed in fourth with 500.5 points (398+102.5)

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Competing on the lines of the 2008 Olympic Games, the Kazakh shooter managed a safe advantage of 7 points on his followers that he had built up throughout the qualifications. Closing the match with a precise 10.8 shot, he finished in first winning his fist Gold medal within the ISSF frame with a total score of 660.5 points (568+92.5).

Silver went to Slovakia’s Pavol KOPP, who finished in second with 657.1 pts. (561+96.1). Kopp, 30-year old, sixth in the world rank, had competed here Beijing during the Games, finishing then in fifth place.

Olympic Bronze medallist Vladimir ISAKOV of the Russian Federation closed the match in third place, winning Bronze with 654.5 points (557+97.5).

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