AIN's Kseniia Stepina and Italy's Fabrizio Fisichella were the women's and men's trap gold medallists today, on the penultimate day of the ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl.
In the women's trap final, Stepina held off a strong contingent from Italy for the title. An all-European final saw Noelia Pontes Villarrubia of Spain depart in sixth, with France's Chloe Dutang just missing out on remaining in the competition as she finished fifth behind Camilla Stella Piazza of Italy.
Piazza was one of three Italians in the running for the medals, with Martina Montani and Maria Teresa Maccioni also in the top four as they sought to overtake Stepina. But Stepina had had a great start to the competition, with a score of 22 from 25 targets, two ahead of Maccioni - and this increased by two more, 10 targets later. At this stage, Piazza was the one to miss out on the medals, with the remaining two teammates tied together. Maccioni would stay ahead of Montani on the tiebreaker.
With 10 targets standing in the way of victory, Stepina was just six away from confirming the win - and would score seven. The top two finished on 42 and 39 respectively, with Stepina continuing her good form after finishing eighth at the ISSF World Cup in Buenos Aires earlier this year.
In the women's trap final, Stepina held off a strong contingent from Italy for the title. An all-European final saw Noelia Pontes Villarrubia of Spain depart in sixth, with France's Chloe Dutang just missing out on remaining in the competition as she finished fifth behind Camilla Stella Piazza of Italy.
Piazza was one of three Italians in the running for the medals, with Martina Montani and Maria Teresa Maccioni also in the top four as they sought to overtake Stepina. But Stepina had had a great start to the competition, with a score of 22 from 25 targets, two ahead of Maccioni - and this increased by two more, 10 targets later. At this stage, Piazza was the one to miss out on the medals, with the remaining two teammates tied together. Maccioni would stay ahead of Montani on the tiebreaker.
With 10 targets standing in the way of victory, Stepina was just six away from confirming the win - and would score seven. The top two finished on 42 and 39 respectively, with Stepina continuing her good form after finishing eighth at the ISSF World Cup in Buenos Aires earlier this year.
Fisichella won the men's title on his Junior World Cup debut, holding off Thomas Betts of Great Britain by a score of 42 to 40.
The Italian had a strong start and had a one-shot lead over the Briton at the halfway stage, with Slovakia's Daniel Hruska and Toni Gudelj of Croatia in pursuit and Spain's Andres Garcia and Lucas Racko of Germany exiting in fifth and sixth.
A difficult series from Hruska saw him drop out of the top three and giving Gudelj the bronze medal. Heading into the final 10 shots, Fisichella had a three-shot lead and he held onto the victory. As well as Fisichella's win on his debut, it was also first podiums for Betts and Gudelj.
In the mixed team 10m air rifle gold medal match, China's Huang Yuting and Huang Liwanlin won a decisive series to defeat Khyaty Chaudhary and Naraen Vanitha Suresh of India 16-14. China held a 14-10 lead, but their opponents fought back to take it to a decider, which the two Huangs took. India would claim the bronze medal too, as Shambhavi Shravan Kshirsagar and Himanshu Himanshu stormed to a 17-9 win over Elijah Spencer and Griffin Lake of the United States.
You can find results and information from the ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl here.
The Italian had a strong start and had a one-shot lead over the Briton at the halfway stage, with Slovakia's Daniel Hruska and Toni Gudelj of Croatia in pursuit and Spain's Andres Garcia and Lucas Racko of Germany exiting in fifth and sixth.
A difficult series from Hruska saw him drop out of the top three and giving Gudelj the bronze medal. Heading into the final 10 shots, Fisichella had a three-shot lead and he held onto the victory. As well as Fisichella's win on his debut, it was also first podiums for Betts and Gudelj.
In the mixed team 10m air rifle gold medal match, China's Huang Yuting and Huang Liwanlin won a decisive series to defeat Khyaty Chaudhary and Naraen Vanitha Suresh of India 16-14. China held a 14-10 lead, but their opponents fought back to take it to a decider, which the two Huangs took. India would claim the bronze medal too, as Shambhavi Shravan Kshirsagar and Himanshu Himanshu stormed to a 17-9 win over Elijah Spencer and Griffin Lake of the United States.
You can find results and information from the ISSF Junior World Cup in Suhl here.