The 2016 ISSF World Cup Final bronze medalist Antonio Bailon of Spain beat two Olympic Champions and set a new world record to finish atop of the men’s Trap podium, at the ISSF Shotgun Word Cup in Larnaka, Cyprus, today.
The 33-year old shooter qualified with 121+4 hits, and then scored 46 targets out of 50 during the final, shuttering the 45-hit world record set by Italy’s D’Ambrosio at the first world cup stage of the season, in New Delhi (IND).
On his way to the podium, he left behind the 2004 Olympic Champion and 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Alexey Alipov of the Russian Federation, 41, who claimed today’s Bronze with 31 hits.
Hitting 9 out his last 10 targets in the final match, the Spanish athlete also prevailed on the 2012 Olympic Champion, Croatia’s Giovanni Cernogoraz, 34, leaving him in second place with a tally of 43 hits. The two athletes had already met in Rome, last October, when Cernogoraz secured the 2016 ISSF World Cup Final title ahead of Slovakia’s Erik Varga and the same Bailon.
“I am really happy about the outcome of today’s competition,” said Bailon after the award ceremony.
“The match has been really tough, – he continued -The weather conditions have been challenging here in Cyprus. The wind sometimes affected the targets, and the light changed a lot through the day and even during the final. But these are the given conditions, it’s the same for all of us, and we just have to deal with it.”
“Next goal? We have an important national match back home in the next weeks, and then off-course through today’s victory I’ve qualified for the ISSF World Cup Final in New Delhi. I will keep on training and working hard.”
Following the medalists, Portugal’s 45-year old three-time Olympian Manuel Silva took 4th place with 28 hits. His last appearance in an ISSF World Cup final match dated back to 2006, when he placed 6th while competing in Kerrville, USA.
Australia’s 24-year old first-time participant Matthew James Schiller and France’s 22-year old first-time finalist Dorian Oblet finished in 5th and 6th place, with 21 and 17 hits, respectively.
The men’s Trap Final closed the official program of the ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Larnaka, where 429 athletes coming from 61 countries competed in the five Olympic shotgun events from the 28th of April.
Tomorrow, trap shooters will be given a chance to test the new Trap Mixed Team event that was proposed by the ISSF for inclusion in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic program.
After five official events conducted, the Chinese team sits atop of the overall medal standings with 2 gold medals. Italy follows in second, with 1 gold and 1 bronze, while Spain and Argentina closes the world cup stage tied in third with 1 gold medal each.
Larnaka’s was the last ISSF Shotgun World Cup stage of the season. Shotgun shooters will meet again at the 2017 ISSF Shotgun World Championship in Moscow, Russia (30 August – 11 September), before the closing event of the year - the ISSF World Cup Final - to be held in New Delhi (IND) from the 23rd through the 30th of October.
Medal standings after 5 out of 5 events conducted
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CHN |
2 | 2 | ||
| 2 | ITA |
1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 3 | ARG |
1 | 1 | ||
| 3 | ESP |
1 | 1 | ||
| 5 | RUS |
1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 6 | CRO |
1 | 1 | ||
| 6 | CYP |
1 | 1 | ||
| 6 | LBN |
1 | 1 | ||
| 6 | USA |
1 | 1 | ||
| 10 | SMR |
1 | 1 | ||
| 10 | THA |
1 | 1 | ||
| 5 | 5 | 5 | 15 |