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Fernandez secured Spain’s first Olympic Quota Place, winning the World Championship just weeks after his success at the Europeans.

“2010 is the year of Spain!” European people say when speaking about sport, thinking about football, cycling and motors, and from today on this sentence also refers to the shooting sport, thanks to Alberto Fernandez, 27, from Madrid, who become the new Trap Men world champion, winning Spain’s first Olympic Quota Place (a qualification card for the 2012 London Games)

Fernandez won all, this year. Crowned European Champion just a few weeks ago in Kazan (RUS), the Spanish athlete won the today’s World Championship with a total score of 143 hits out of 150 targets, adding a new title to his medal showcase, and becoming the first Spanish athlete to be qualified for the London 2012 Games.

Squeezing into today’s final round through a shoot-off with 121+2 hits after the qualification, the 27-year old Spanish shooter climbed up the scoreboard by hitting 22 out of 25 targets during the final match, leaving behind his titled opponents.

“I am so happy, this is my best result ever. This is a dream which becomes true” Said Fernandez, surrounded by his numerous teammates (the Spanish team brought here in Munich 40 shooters) while interviewed by the Eurovision Network “I will go to the Games, this is simply great!”

The Silver medal went to the 2004 Olympic Champion, Russia’s Alexei Alipov, who celebrated his birthday (he will turn 35 in 3 days) with an Olympic Quota Place, a pass for the 2012 Games “This is a nice birthday present!” said the Russian champion “I am closer to the next Olympics, and this is the best thing that I could present myself!” Qualified for the medal match with 122 hits, Alipov hit 20 targets in the final, ending up with a total score of 142 targets. Then, he had to shoot-off for Silver against Czech Republic Liptak, eventually outdoing him by 2 to 1 hits.

“I will definitely have to train more for shoot-offs!” said smiling the Bronze medallist, Czech Republic’s Jiri Liptak, 28, who secured a spot on the podium and an Olympic Quota Places with 142+1 hits “My teammates were kidding me just yesterday, saying that I am too old and that it was time for me to win something. I guess I surprised them, now!” The Czech shooter wasn’t indeed one of the favourite to win: ranked 18^th in the world, he had never made it into a world-level final, before.

Italy’s Giovanni Pellielo, holding three world titles won in nineties, ended up in fourth place, securing a Quota Place that could warranty him the participation in his sixth Olympics, in 2012. The 40-year old athlete had led the qualification with 123 hits out of 125 targets, but then missed 5 targets out of the first 10 during the final match, landing in fourth with a total score of 141 hits.

He was followed in fifth by China’s Li Yajun, who grabbed the last available Quota with a total score of 140 clays, while USA’s first time finalist Jacob Turner ended up in sixth with 139 hits, missing the Olympic qualification by one target.

Drama and emotions: Italy’s De Filippis won the Trap Men Gold medal, taking the place of his teammate Viganò, who lost the brightest medal at the last shot after leading the match since the qualifications.

“I wanted to thank my coach Albano Pera, and I think that winning a Gold medal is the best way to do it!” Said Mauro De Filippis, the Italian shooter who won today’s Trap Men Final at the last shot, winning a four-way shoot-off for the Gold medal.

“Albano has always believed in me throughout all these years, and he gave me this chance to compete here, in my home country. I am glad I made it!” continued the 29-year old Italian shooter, who had never won an ISSF medal before.

De Filippis won a breathtaking match, today, turning the tables of a competition which did not start in the best way for him. Qualified throughout a shoot off with the lowest score (119 targets) he simply gave his best throughout the final round, hitting 24 out of 25 final targets. As his teammate Viganò who had been leading the match since the first shot missed his last two targets, De Fillippis catch him up, making it into a four-way shoot-off for the Gold medal.

Zeroing in, De Filippis did not miss the Golden chance, and turned out to be the strongest in the shoot-off, outdoing Spain’s Fernandez, a disappointed Viganò, and Croatia’s Josip Glasnovic, securing the Gold medal with a total score of 143+7 points.

“When I passed through the first shoot-off, I regrouped and tried to stay calm. I had nothing to loose. I was not feeling too much pressure then, I enjoyed the competition and the great experience to be in such a high level match!” Said the Italian shooter “It’s simply great to win my first World Cup here in Italy!”

Croatia’s Josip Glasnovic, 27, missed his seventh shoot-off target, and was left in second with a total score of 143+6 targets. The Croatian shooter has won his last ISSF medal, a Bronze, here in Lonato during the 2005 ISSF World Championship.

De Filippis’ teammate Rodolfo Viganò grabbed the Bronze, loosing the Gold medal at the last spine chilling shot. The 39-year old Italian shooter, coming back to an ISSF final after missing since a few years, led the match right to the 23rd target, missing then the last two clays and finishing in the shoot-off. Eventually, he secured the Bronze medal with 143+4 targets, leaving Spain’s Fernandez in fourth with 143+3 hits.

“I simply lost that last target. It’s painful to lose a Gold medal in that way.” Said Viganò right after the shoot off  “At the same time, I am happy that I made it to the podium. I have been in the national team for almost 23 years, now. – Continued the Italian shooter, who had won several ISSF World Cup medals in the nineties – And Loanto’s is my home range. I was glad to be here today, to compete in front of my people!”

The Russian Olympic multi-medallist won the last final round of the 2010 ISSF World Cup in Shotgun events in Dorset (UK). Alipov scored 144 out o f150 targets, winning his second ISSF World Cup medal of the season.

The 2004 Olympic Champion and 2008 Olympic Bronze medallist Alexey Alipov of Russia, 34, won today’s Trap Men Final at the ISSF World Cup in Shotgun events in Dorset (UK). Alipov left no chances to his opponents, hitting 23 out of 25 targets during the final round, while his opponents dropped several targets.

“I made it into the final passing through a shoot-off, and I was really nervous – said Alipov right after the medal ceremony. After scoring 121 targets during the qualifications, he squeezed into the final match winning a shoot-off with 10 targets – As the final started I found my rhythm, and I calmed down controlling each and every target. This is my second podium, this year, I couldn’t be happier!” concluded Alipov, who had placed in second at the last World Cup Stage in Beijing.

The three Olympic medallists of the 2008 Games in Beijing fought for today’s medals, during today’s Trap Men final, winning the applauses of the numerous English spectators crowding Dorset’s final range. Shooting head to head with Alipov, Italy’s Pellielo and Czech Republic’s Kostelecky tried to climb upon the highest step of the podium.

Italy’s Giovanni Pellielo, Olympic Silver of Beijing, started the final match in the lead with the highest qualification score of 123 hits. But the 40-year old Italian champion quickly slid down in the placements by dropping two out of the first three targets, eventually landing in sixth and last place with a total score of 139 targets (123+16).

Beijing’s Olympic Champion Davi Kostelecky of Check Republic, shot neck and neck with Alipov right to the twenty-fourth final target, when he missed one finishing in a shoot-off for the Silver medal against China’s Yu Xiaokai.

21-year old Yu, who had never made it into an ISSF World Cup final round before, did not hesitate in front of the Olympic Champion, and hit his first shoot-off target. Kostelecky shooting in second, dropped his target, placing himself in third place to wear the Bronze medal with 143+1 targets. Yu, surrounded by his teammates, climbed on the second step of the podium, winning his first ISSF medal with a total score of 143+2 targets.

The home shooter Aaron Heading won the applauses of the British spectators, finishing his first ISSF final round ever in fourth place with 142 hits (after squeezing into the final with 121+10 targets). He was followed by Spain’s Alberto Fernandez, fifth with 140 hits.

Three Olympic Gold medallists could not beat Adam Vella, at today’s Trap Men Final. He claimed Gold with four targets of advantage on Russia’s Alipov and USA’s Hadden.

The 2004 Olympic Bronze medallist of Athens Adam Vella of Australia won the Trap Men competition at the ISSF World Cup in Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun events in Beijing, today.

The 38-year old Australian shooter finished atop of the podium with a total score of 143 hits, leaving his opponents four targets behind him. Walking into the final round in first place with 121 qualification targets, Vella was not bothered by the numerous “no birds” occurring during the final round, and did not lose his concentration. Zeroing in, he shattered 22 clays, securing Gold with a total score of 143 hits. Shooting next to him, Olympic Champions of the 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008 Games could not reach him, today.

Missing two clays within the first four final targets, the 2004 Olympic Champion and 2008 Olympic Bronze medallist Alexey Alipov, 34, had to fight against USA’s Ryan Hadden, 30, to secure today’s Silver. The Russian athlete made it to the second step of the podium with a total score of 139 (120+19) hits, by a narrow advantage of one target over Hadden, who secured Bronze with 138 (118+20) hits.

The final round then was closed by a shoot-off for the fourth place involving three Olympic Gold medals. The 1996 and 2000 Olympic Champion Michael Diamond of Australia, 37, met and beat the 2008 Olympic Champion of Beijing David Kostelecky of Czech Republic 8 to 7 hits. Diamond, currently ranked first in the World Ranking, had won the 2009 ISSF World Cup Final held here in Beijing.

Following them in sixth and last place, Kuwait’s Naser Meqlad could not find his rhythm during the final round, probably due to the numerous “no-birds”. The 27-year old athlete, who had made it into the final with the highest qualification score of 121 targets, hit 13 clays during the final closing with a total score of 134 hits.

Manavjit Singh Sandhu climbed up the scoreboard, outscoring Italy’s Daniele Resca and USA’s John Mullins to finish on the highest step of the podium with a total score of 145 hits.

The 2006 ISSF World Champion, India’s Manavjit Singh Sandhu, won today’s Trap Men final round, claiming Gold with a total score of 145 hits.

Shooting in a hot and windy Mexican afternoon, Sandhu made it to the final round with 122 targets after, one target behind the qualification’s leader Resca of Italy.

The Indian ace shooters shot his way to the highest step of the podium by hitting 23 out of 25 targets during the final round. Shooting solidly, he climbed up the scoreboard, first tying Resca, and then overtaking him at the 24^th final target, as the Italian missed a fatal clay sliding in second place.

“I did not realize that I was going to win until the last shots. It has been a very close competition: I only won by one target. – Sandhu said – I shot aggressively up until the end and eventually made it to the top.”

“It was a long trip here from India but it was worth it! – added Sandhu – I am planning to take part in most of the ISSF World Cup stages, this year. My aim for the future? The Olympic Games, of course,” concluded the Indian Gold medallists, probably thinking of the ISSF World Championship that will take place in Munich next August, where the first Olympic Quota Places will be awarded.

Sandhu, 33-year old, is currently ranked tenth in the Trap Men world ranking, The Indian shooter finished twice on the podium last year, as he won a Bronze medal at the 2009 ISSF World Cup in Minsk (BLR) and a Gold medal at the Asian Championship in Almaty (KAZ).

Italy’s Daniele Resca, 23, competing in the second ISSF World Cup final match of his international career, missed four targets in the final. Finishing with a total score of 144 hits, he lost the leadership he had gained through the qualification and had to pass through a shoot-off against USA’s John Mullins to secure the Silver medal with a total of 144 targets plus 3 hits in the shoot-off.

John Mullins, 22, today’s youngest finalists, finished in third place with 144 targets plus 2 hits in the shoot-off, winning his first international medal. The young athlete had participated in four ISSF World Cup stages since 2006, but he had never made it to the podium, before.

Another first-time finalist, India’s 32-year old Anirudh Singh, closed the match in fourth place with 143 hits + 2, after shooting-off the seven-time World Cup Final winner Giovanni Pellielo of Italy by 2 to 1 hits.

While Pellielo placed in fifth with 143 +1 hits, the Silver medallist of the 2007 World Cup in Changwon, Spain’s Alberto Fernandez, ended up in sixth place with a total score of 142 clays.

The ISSF World Cup in Acapulco continues: the Double Trap Men final round will take place on Saturday the 6th, in the first hours of the afternoon. Check the schedule of competition!