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India’s ace Sandhu claimed Trap Men Gold

March 12th, 2010
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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 24th 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!

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Trap Men – Diamond outdid the Italians

November 7th, 2009
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20091102_TR125-2The Australian champion overtook the two Italian teammates Pellielo and Fabbrizi, winning Gold with one target of advantage on his opponents.

The two-time Olympic Champion Michael Diamond won today’s Trap Men competition at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup Final, securing the third title of his career with a total score of 134 hits (117+16). Diamond climbed the scoreboard and overtook the two Italian teammated Pellielo and Fabbrizi, finishing on the highest step of the podium with one target of advantage.

“Yesterday was snowing, today it is freezing – Diamond said after the award ceremony – Sun is shining today, and the reflection of the sunlight on the snow compromised the visibility. When the target flies over the snow into the dark line of the threes on the background, it’s almost gone. It has been difficult. Not impossible.”

The Australian shooter had made it into the final round with the second qualification score of 117 targets behind the qualification’s leader, Pellielo of Italy, the title defender. As Pellielo started missing, Diamond took the chance, climbing up in the lead to win with a final score of 17 hits “Somebody complained about the targets. I don’t want to comment about that. If I am missing, most of the times it’s up to me. Today, I would say that targets did not affect my round at all.”

Pellielo, Beijing’s Olympics Silver medallist, and winner of last year’s ISSF World Cup Final in Minsk, hit 12 targets out of 25 in the final, missing nine in a row, and landed in third place with a total score of 130 clays (118+12). The Italian athlete holds a record, being the shotgun shooter who won the highest number of World Cup Finals (seven titles). Today’s was his thirteenth medal in this competition. “Today’s targets were really hard. – he commented after the final - And the weather conditions were extreme.”

Italy’s Massimo Fabbrizi, 32, overtook his teammate Pellielo to claim Silver with 133 hits (117+16), his first ISSF World Cup Final medal. The 2005 World Champion also commented on the target used for the final: “I am happy I made it to the podium, but I also agree that these targets were hard to break.”

Following the medallists, the 2006 World Champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu of India paied his lower qualification score of 111 targets, and closed the round in fifth place with a total of 129 hits, finishing one clay down the podium in spite of shooting today’s best final with 18 clays.

The winner of this year’s ISSF World Cup Stages in Cairo and San Marino, USA’s Ryan Hadden, placed fifth with 124 hits (109+15), followed by this year’s World Champion Marian Kovacocy of Slovakia, sixth with 123 hits (110+13).

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Trap Men – Slovakia’s Kovacocy claimed Gold

August 10th, 2009
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20090809_TR125CHAMPION_001An 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.

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.

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Trap Men – An outsider tied the Olympic Champion atop of the ranking

August 9th, 2009
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20090808_tr125day1_001After the first 75 qualification targets, the Chinese outsider Li Yang tied to Beijing’s Olympic Champion Kostelecky in the lead of the Trap Men ranking. The title defender Diamond shot 73 targets and ranks in 10th place. The competition will continue tomorrow, with the next 50 qualification targets and the final round.

The first day of competition of the 2009 ISSF Shotgun World Championship saw the great result recorded by the Olympic Champion David KOSTELECKY (CZE). Shooting in a beautiful sunny day, with almost no wind, the Czech shooter concluded the first day of the Trap Men qualifications with a full score of 75 hits out of 75 targets. KOSTELECKY comes from a Silver medal won at the last ISSF World Cup stage in San Marino, last June. The Czech shooter, who had won a World Championship as junior shooter in 1995, is still looking for his first Gold medal after the Olympic Games of Beijing.

The Chinese outsider LI Yang, 22-year old, surprised everybody by finishing this first day of qualification with a full score of 75 hits, reaching the Olympic Champion KOSTELECKY atop of the provisory ranking of the Trap Men event. LI has never made it to an ISSF podium so far, and his best personal placement has been a 16th place at the last 2008 Olympic Games.

The title defender, the winner of the 2007 World Championships, the legendary Australian Trap shooter Michael DIAMOND (a seven-time world champion), shot a total of 73 targets today, dropping two precious targets at this morning’s first qualification round. DIAMOND currently holds the 10th place of the provisory ranking, while Italy’s champion Giovanni PELLIELO, the current number two in the World Ranking, stopped his target-counter to 72 hits finishing in 26th place.

The games are still open: the Trap Men competition will continue tomorrow, when the last 50 qualification targets will be thrown. The Trap Men final round, where the top 6 athletes will meet to fight for the medals in a 25-target round, will take place tomorrow afternoon at 5.00 PM.

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Trap Men – USA’s Hadden claimed the last Gold medal

June 24th, 2009
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USA’s Ryan HADDEN won the conclusive round of the 2009 ISSF Shotgun World Cup in San Marino. The 29-year old American shooter outdid the Olympic Champion Kostelecky, who closed the march in second place.

The 29-year old American shooter Ryan HADDEN won the Trap Men final at the ISSF World Cup in San Marino, the fourth and last leg of this year’s ISSF World Cup Series. The American shooter claimed Gold shooting in the rain, in spite of the changing weather conditions affecting this two-day Trap competition.

HADDEN shot today’s Gold medal with a total score of 144 +3 targets, outdoing the Olympic Champion KOSTELECKY in a shoot-off for Gold. HADDEN is not new to the podium: the American shooter came from a victory at this year’s first World Cup stage, in Cairo.

“The Qualification round has been a little bit difficult because of the visibility. I entered into the final very confident. I felt confident going into the shoot-off.” Said HADDEN, right after receving the last gold medal of the competition.

The Olympic Champion of Beijing, David KOSTELECKY, 34, finished in second place claiming Silver with a total score of 144 +2 targets, missing a crucial clay in the shoot-off.

“I missed two times the same target, within today’s final… two right targets… I have been a little bit unlucky in the shoot-off, but I am happy of my overall result.” Said the Olympic Champion right after the final match.

“I had not shoot at my best, at the last World Cup stage, and I found this shooting range of San Marino is quite difficult, therefore I am satisfied of my 23-hit final and of my 121-hit  qualification.” Continued Kostelecky, who had placed in 11th at the last World Cup stage in Minsk, shooting 116 targets.

With a total score of 143 targets, Bronze went to the 34-year old Sergio PINERO, who had also shot in the final round of Cairo’s World Cup stage. PINERO, previously representing Spain, and now shooting for Dominican Republic, used to compete in Double Trap, and had never won an ISSF medal in the Trap Men event, before.

Coming in next, the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Champion Michael DIAMOND placed in fifth after loosing a shoot-off against Slovakia’s FILIPOVIC.  DIAMOND ended up the round with a total score of 141 +10, after missing his last final clay. The 33-year old finalist Mario FILIPOVIC grabbed the fourth place with 141 +11 targets.

Belgium Philippe DUPONT finished in sixth place with a total score of 135 (119+16) hits. The 45-year old shooter had shot his last World Cup final round fifteen years ago, at the 1994 World Cup held in Cairo.

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