Finland’s 47-year-old Trap shooter Satu Makela-Nummela won the seventh World Cup gold medal of her career in Siggiewi (MLT), where the fifth stage of the 2018 ISSF World Cup Series is currently underway.
At the Malta National Shooting Ranges, the experienced shooter competed against a panel of multi-decorated shooters, missing three of her first 20 targets and then moving into the top position in the second half of the match, when she only missed two more.
“I’m happy with my performance, I started really well and then I was able to keep that pace despite the weather, it was very hot today,” said Makela-Nummela after the medal ceremony. “I’d say it was like a Finnish sauna!”
“The experience I gained in many finals is very important, so of course, I think it played an important role in today’s match,” concluded Makela-Nummela, who finished with 44 hits out of 50 targets and secured her second consecutive World Cup gold, adding it to the one she won in Changwon (KOR) last April.
On the podium, along with the Finnish 47-year-old, climbed two first-time medalist: Germany’s 31-year-old Katrin Quooss — ISSF World Champion in Granada (ESP) in 2014 — took silver with 41 hits out of 50, sliding down in 2nd place after missing four clays in a row from number 31 to number 34. Then, on the third step of the podium, Russian Federation’s 24-year-old Ekaterina Rabaya secured the bronze medal in her first final participation, crushing 30 out of 40 targets.
The first athlete eliminated from the match was Zuzana Rehak Stefecekova of Slovakia — a two-time Olympic silver medalist who currently sits in eighth position in the World Ranking: the 34-year-old placed 6th with 17 hits out of 20. Five targets later, it was Australia’s Penny Smith who left the contest, taking 5th position with 23 crushed clays out of 30.
Right outside of the medal positions, 28-year-old Carole Cormenier of France concluded the match in 4th place, hitting 27 of her 40 targets and missing what would’ve been the second World Cup medal of her career, after the bronze she won in San Marino (SMR) in 2016.
Medal standings after 3 out of 5 events
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | USA |
1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2 | FIN |
1 | 1 | ||
| 2 | GBR |
1 | 1 | ||
| 4 | EGY |
1 | 1 | ||
| 4 | GER |
1 | 1 | ||
| 6 | CHN |
1 | 1 | ||
| 6 | ITA |
1 | 1 | ||
| 6 | RUS |
1 | 1 | ||
| 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
The ISSF World Cup Stage 5 in Siggiewi (MLT) will continue tomorrow with the Trap Men final, scheduled at 5:30 pm (UTC+2:00).
The match will be streamed live on the ISSF website, on the Federation’s Livestream channel and on its official Facebook page.
Live results, news and updates will be available on www.issf-sports.org and on all ISSF social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Weibo and Youku.