Australian shooter James Willett, a continental Champion in Sydney in 2015, competing this year in his second ISSF World Cup Series, walked on the highest step of the podium in Rio de Janeiro (BRA), beating London 2012 Bronze medallist Vasily Mosin of the Russian Federation.
That counts as Willett’s second World Cup medal in five starts.
After they both nailed the best semifinal score with 27, the Australian and the Russian athlete doubled their scores in the Gold medal match, entering in a shoot-off where Mosin missed on his very first station and Willett celebrated the first ISSF World Cup Gold of his young career.
“Yes, it looks like I’m peaking at the right moment,” said Willett, asked about his second consecutive World Cup medal. “I only started shooting Double Trap in 2014, and it feels great to win some medals and be on top of the podium.”
“The range here at the Olympic venue is great. I think it will be a great venue for the Games, the weather is good, the targets are good, everything is good. It should be great!” “I will definitely be in Baku, I’ll just try to shoot at as many competitions as possible in the lead up to the Olympics.” He concluded.
In the Bronze medal match USA’s Walton Eller, Double Trap Olympic Gold medallist in Beijing 2008, prevailed over Italy’s Antonino Barillà, taking an early, comfortable lead and finishing with a convincing 28-to-23 victory.
Previously, to enter the Bronze medal match, Eller had to survive a shoot-off with Germany’s Andrea Loew, who then placed 5th with 25 semifinal and 3 shoot-off targets.
Italy’s second shooter, the Gold medallist at last month’s World Cup stage in Nicosia (CYP) Alessandro Chianese, finished 6th with 24 semifinal targets.
Medal standings after 8 out of 15 events
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ESP |
2 | 2 | ||
| 1 | UKR |
2 | 2 | ||
| 3 | RUS |
1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 4 | CHN |
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 | AUS |
1 | 1 | ||
| 5 | TPE |
1 | 1 | ||
| 7 | BEL |
1 | 1 | ||
| 7 | BUL |
1 | 1 | ||
| 7 | KOR |
1 | 1 | ||
| 7 | LIB |
1 | 1 | ||
| 7 | SRB |
1 | 1 | ||
| 12 | GER |
2 | 2 | ||
| 13 | GUA |
1 | 1 | ||
| 13 | SIN |
1 | 1 | ||
| 13 | SVK |
1 | 1 | ||
| 13 | USA |
1 | 1 | ||
| 8 | 8 | 8 | 24 |
The ISSF World Cup stage in Rio de Janeiro will continue tomorrow with the 25m Pistol Women final, scheduled at 3:30 PM (UTC-3).
News and updates will be available on the ISSF official website and on its social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Weibo. While highlights of all the finals will be available on YouTube and Youku.