The Italian flag was risen once again atop of the podium of the 2017 ISSF Shotgun World Championship in Moscow, today, as Daniele Resca won the men’s Trap final with 43 hits out of 50 targets.
Yesterday, his teammate Jessica Rossi claimed the women’s event with the same score.
31-year old Resca had never won an ISSF gold medal before, and he had never even participated in a world championship. Ranked 18th in the world, he beat Rio 2016 bronze medalist Edward Ling of Great Britain, leaving him in second place with 40 hits.
The Italian shooter led for most of the match, putting his victory at risk at the end of final, as he missed three out his last six targets. But Ling did not take advantage of his opponent’s mistakes, missing two targets out his last three.
Jiri Liptak of Czech Republic took the bronze with 33 hits. The 2010 world champion Alberto Fernandez of Spain finished in fourth place with 25 hits. USA’s Derek Haldeman and India’s Kynan Chenai followed them in fifth and sixth place, with 21 and 17 hits, respectively.
Resca said:
“This is my first world championship. I arrived here in Moscow coming from a bad performance at this year’s European Championship in Baku, where I wasted all my chances at the last series. I really wanted to do well here, to show what I can do.”
“It has been a great final. The new format with 50 targets is perfect and really fair. I have been preparing for it, and I was ready. I missed some clays at the end of the match just because I was a bit tired.”
“I have been training at the new shooting range opened by Jessica Rossi (the 2012 Olympic champion who won the world title in the women’s trap event yesterday, ed.). I live near by, and it’s a great place to train.”
“Finally I have a gold medal around my neck. This title pays off all the sacrifices and hard work. I have been shooting for 16 years now, and I would like to dedicate this victory to my family. They always supported me, through huge sacrifices.”
Asked about his plans for the future, the new world champion said:
“I will compete in the Italian championship in a couple of weeks, and then the ISSF World Cup Final. And then I am thinking about 2018: next year we will start fighting for the Tokyo 2020 quotas, and I will be ready.”
Resca celebrated twice today, as his result - added to the scores of his teammates Giovanni Pellielo and Valerio Grazini - lifted Italy atop of the teams’ podium with a tally of 362 hits. Liptak’s Czech Republic (Jiri Liptak, David Kostelecky, Vladimir Stepan) took silver with 359 hits, leaving bronze to Spain (Alberto Fernandez, Antonio Bailon, Jose Luis Rodriguez Uris) with 357 targets.
The 2017 ISSF Shotgun World Championship in Moscow Region, Russia, sees 640 athletes form 76 countries competing in 22 official medal events, including team, separate junior events, and the new Mixed Team finals.
The competition will continue tomorrow, with the Trap Mixed Team event. Medal matches are scheduled at 16.30 (UTC+3). The match will be broadcasted live on www.issf-sports.org, on the ISSF Facebook page, and televised through the Eurovision network.