The 2006 World Champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu won today's Trap Men finals, during the second competition day at the 2014 ISSF World Cup Stage in Shotgun events held in Tucson, AZ, USA.
The 37-year old Indian shooter beat Australia's two-time Olympic Champion Michael Diamond (41) in the Gold medal match by 13 to 9 hits, after scoring 14 out of 15 targets in the semi-final.
The 2004 Olympic Champion Alexey Alipov, 38, from Russia, ended up in third place outdoing Great Britain's 26-year old Aaron Heading by12 to 10 hits in the Bronze medal match.
Ireland's 43-year old finalist Derek Burnett closed the match in fifth in place, with 13 hits in the semi-final, followed by Brazil's 46-year old Rodrigo Bastos, sixth with 12 hits.
Sandhu said: “We had some of the best shooters of the world competing in today's final. Winning the match against Michael Diamond has been definitely challenging, but at the end you have to hit your own target, and the final score is what it is.”
The Indian sharpshooter had won his last world cup stage four years ago, back in 2010.
“I've prepared for this first World Cup throughout the winter season: we had several championship and trials in India in the last months. I never stopped shooting.” The Gold medallist commented.
Sandhu, currently ranked 16th in the world, is getting ready for one of the most intense seasons of his career, he said. “2014 is a very important season for the Indian team, and the pressure is high. We're competing in the Commonwealth Games, then in the ISSF World Championship in September, and straight after that we're going to participate in the Asian Games.”
The ISSF World Championship, taking place in Granda, Spain, starting form the 6th of September this year, will assign the first Quota Places for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Quotas are assigned to the countries, who then select the athletes that will participate in the Games. A system that Sandhu knows very well, having qualified for and participated in the last three Olympics.