Marian KOVACOCY, 24-year old, from Slovakia, is the new Trap Men World Champion. The Slovakian shooter won the Trap Men Final round with a total score of 146 hits, climbing up from the fifth place he held after the qualification rounds and upsetting any prediction.
“The shoot-off to get into the final has been quite stressing, but then I feld more confiident during the final round. It has been a tough match, but I feel great now!” Said KOVACOCY, who had to pass through a four-way shoot-off to enter the final round where he met Olympic and World Champions.
Shooting solidly, the Slovakian shooter missed only one clay throughout the 25-target final round, climbing in the lead and overtaking the Italian shooter Massimo FABBRIZI to win Gold. KOVACOCY had won the 2001 World Championship competing as junior athlete, but he had never made into a World Championship final round shooting between Seniors, before. “It’s different, it’s not comparable” only commented KOVACOCY, who did not climb on an ISSF podium since 2001 “You cannot compare two different categories! I really had no expectations for today’s match, the result came unexpected. I cannot wait to celebrate with my teammates now!”
2005 World Champion Fabbrizi shot Silver.
Italy’s Massimo FABBRIZI, the 2005 World Champion, shot neck and neck with KOVACOCY right to the last shot, when the expert Italian fatally dropped his last target missing the highest step of the podium. Sliding in second place, FABBRIZI had to pass through a shoot-off against the Turkish shooter Oguzhan TUZUN to secure Silver with a total score of 145 hits +1 target in the shoot-off.
“You cannot imagine the pressure of such a match,” commented FABBRIZI after winning the shoot-off for Silver. The Italian shooter, winner of this year’s ISSF World Cup in Munich, suffered the stress of the match: “I was shooting next to an Olympic Champion, I did not expect that an outsider could make it. ..I congratulate Kovacocy.!I am really sorry I lost the Gold in this way. But at the same time, I am so proud I made it to the podium winning a Silver medal!”
By missing on the first shoot-off target, the 26-year old Turkish shooter TUNZUN placed in third winning Bronze with a total of 145 targets +0. TUNZUN, who had won the 1999 Junior World Championship of Tampere, had never made into a World Championship Senior final before.
The Olympic Champion in fourth: “…but it has been a positive season!”
The Olympic Champion of Beijing David KOSTELECKY of Czech Republic finished the match in fourth place, hitting a total of 144 targets. KOSTELECKY, who came from a Silver medal won at the last World Cup Stage of the year, said to be satisfied anyway “I really had a hard time following the Games, being under pressure” KOSTELECKY said; “My goal for this season was to make it at least into a final round. I shot three international finals, and I won a medal at the World Cup in San Marino. The balance of the season is therefore absolutely positive to me.” KOSTELECKY concluded: “Now I will take a few time off, I will shoot at the ISSF World Cup Final, but then I will try to regroup before the next season.”
Italy claimed teams’ Gold, followed by Slovakia and Czech Republic
FABBRIZI’s score, combined with the good results reached by his teammates Giovanni PELLIELO and Erminio FRASCA, brought Italy on the highest step of the teams podium. The overall score of 362 targets placed Italy in first with one target of advantage on KOVACOCY’s Slovakia.
Slovakia’s team (KOVACOCY, FILIPOVIC, VARGA) placed in second securing the teams’ Silver with a combined score of 361 targets. Czech Republic tied Slovakia. The team leaded by the Olympic Champion KOSTELECKY (KOSTELECKY, DANEK and LIPTAK) shot a total of 361 targets as well.
The World Championship continues.
The 2009 ISSF World Championship continues with the Trap Women and the Trap Women Junior events. The competitions will start tomorrow with the official training, and will continue the 11th with the qualification and the Trap Women Final round which will assign the next medals.
An odds-defying final crowned Slovakia’s Marian Kovacocy as the new Trap Men World Champion. Kovacocy outdid Italy’s Fabbrizzi at the very last shot, winning Gold with a total score of 146 hits.
