Super 25. The favourite discovered: Shotgun Men Events

Shotgun competitions are announced to be battles, at the Shooting Venue of Beijing, where the bests of the bests will fight to fulfil every sportsman dream: an Olympic Title. The Skeet Men event sees as favourite one of the youngest competitors, the 19-years old American phenomenon Vincent HANCOCK, the first athlete able to shot the incredible record of 150 out of 150 targets. He will fight against the Italian titleholder Andrea BENELLI and the World’s number one Georgios ACHILLEOS of Cyprus, without forgetting the 1996 Olympic Champion Ennio FALCO and the current European Champion Tore BROVOLD of Norway.
The Double Trap Competition will be a trilling match as well, where the Super 25 favourite Hakan DAHLBY of Sweden will have to give his best to resist the title defender, Sheik Ahmed ALMAKTOUM, and the 2000 Olympic Champion Richard FAULDS of Great Britain, the best in 2008.
The classic Olympic clay-shooting competition, the Trap Men event, will probably be the stage for a breathtaking duel between the Olympic Champions of Athens (and Super 25 favourite) Alexey ALIPOV, and the two times Olympic Gold medallist Michael DIAMOND of Australia.

Skeet Men Event

The leader: Vincent HANCOCK
Nation: United States of America (USA)
Year of Birth: 1989
Super 25 Ranking: 1st
World Ranking (01/08/2008): 2nd
OG Athens ’04 Placement: -
Best OG Placement: -

When he first took part in an ISSF competition in 2005 nobody knew the 16-year old Vincent HANCOCK of USA. Nowadays, three years later, he is the leading Skeet shooter of the World, the first who could ever score an outstanding World Record of 150 targets, the perfection. “I don’t really have any secret! – Says Vincent - Basically, the only thing it’s just hard work, you have to dedicate yourself 110 percent, and you need to have a good coach wherever you go. I started shooting with my father when I was about eleven years old, he was my first coach, and he traveled with me all around the world the first years.”
The 16-year old HANCOCK won everything in 2005, and made certain that his first year participating in international competitions would be a memorable one; he won Gold in Salinas at the Continental American Championships, a Gold medal at the World Championships in Lonato, two Gold medals at the World Cups in Americana and Changwon, and a Silver at the ISSF World Cup Final of Dubai, defeating some of the world’s most expert Skeet shooters. After one-year break to finish school and get into the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit, HANCOCK came back to International shooting at the 2007 ISSF World Cup Lonato, Italy. There, competing on the range that gave him the World Champion title in 2005, Vincent accomplished his aim: to score all the 150 targets and set a new World Record. “I always said I was going to shot the 150 record. It was a matter of time and preparation. Now the record is set, and it’s only possible to equal it. – He proudly said after that golden final - Now I feel I’m ready to go for the Olympic games, it’s my next goal. I’m going to practice, and I’m going to try my hardest to make it. I wont go there just to be there…I’m going to win! Nothing it’s easy, but that’s what life deals with!”
Vincent has all the motivations and the freshness needed to win an Olympiad, but it will not be so easy to end up on the highest step of the podium. His extraordinary record has been equaled this year by Tore BROVOLD, the skilled Norwegian athlete who won the 2008 European Championships. And HANCOCK will find on his way also the current World number one in Skeet, Georgios ACHILLEOS of Cyprus, and the Italian expert Ennio FALCO, the 1996 Olympic Champion. A surprise could also come from the 48-years old title older, the Italian athlete Andrea BENELLI, remembered by everybody for his “golden run” around the shooting range of Athens. “This is my last competition. I am going to retire after the Games – said BENELLI – I am old, I don’t even know if they would let me shoot, next year!” BENELLI had pronounced the same sentences four years ago, before winning the Olympic title “This time is true, this is the last one!” insisted BENELLI, smiling.

Skeet Men Event

Double Trap Men Event

The leader: Hakan DAHLBY
Nation: Sweden (SWE)
Year of Birth: 1965
Super 25 Ranking: 1st
World Ranking (01/08/2008): 2nd
OG Athens ’04 Placement: 5th
Best OG Placement: 5th (Athens 2004)

Hakan DAHLBY of Sweden is the leader of our Super 25 Ranking in the Double Trap Event. The reason becomes obvious when looking at his record sheet: the Swedish athlete has been one of the main protagonists of this shotgun event throughout the last years, and it is not easy to remember an international final where he did not start between the firsts. DAHLBY, 42, won his first international Gold medal ever at the 2004 European Championships of Nicosia. The same year, he climbed the World Ranking by entering the Olympic Final of Athens, where he eventually finished in fifth place. From there on, DAHLBY has been improving in results, winning a World Cup Final in 2005 and several World Cup medal in 2006 and 2007. This year, he experienced a few problems at the pre-Olympic World Cup of Beijing, where he did not enter the final round. But the clouds were cleared a few weeks after, when he came back refocused at the World Cup Stage of Kerrville to shot Gold again.
Next to DAHLBY (or against DAHLBY), there are several skilled pretenders for the Double Trap Men podium. The title defender, the Olympic Champion of Athens 2004 Sheik Ahmed ALMAKTOUM of the United Arab Emirates, will surely try double the unforgettable victory (he has been the first Olympic medallist of his country, ever). Another Olympic Champion, the winner of the 2000 Games of Sydney Richard FAULDS of Great Britain, will give his best to reach the highest step of the podium. The British athlete has been the protagonist of an exceptional 2008 season, in which he entered all of the four final rounds out of the four World Cup Stages, winning three medals and equalling a World Record that had resisted for ten years. FAULDS shot better then any other Double Trap shooter, this year, mirroring the 1998 Richard FAULDS that had won a World Championship and two World Cups on the road to Sydney. On a different road, on this path that leads to Beijing, FAULDS climbed up the World Ranking, moving from the 13th position he had at the beginning of the season to the leadership, that he holds with over a thousand points of advantage on his followers. How not to consider this Richard FAULDS an Olympic favourite?
The Chinese colours will be represented by the 30-years old Binyuan HU (second in the Super 25 Ranking), a successful shooter who could exploit the home court advantage at the Olympic Shooting Venue of Beijing. Last but not the least, DAHLBY will surely meet his friend Walton ELLER, the 26-year old American Champion, from Texas, who has been leading the World Ranking for months in 2007 and 2008.
Many pretenders are dreaming of the most important title, but only one of them will shot the goal. ALMAKTOUM, DAHLBY, ELLER, HU, FAULDS… Who will stand on the highest step of the podium?

Double Trap Men Event

Trap Men Event

The leader: Alexey ALIPOV
Nation: Russian Federation (RUS)
Year of Birth: 1975
Super 25 Ranking: 1st
World Ranking (01/08/2008): 2nd
OG Athens ’04 Placement: 1st
Best OG Placement: 1st (Athens 2004)

The current Olympic Champion in the Trap Men Event, the Russian athlete Alexey ALIPOV, is both the title defender and the Super 25 Ranking favourite to gain a medal at the upcoming Games of Beijing. The Russian athlete is widely considered one of the best shooters of the World, and he gained such a prominent position in the international shooting panorama winning medals after medals in almost every international competition. Crowned World Champion in 1999, the 33 years old ALIPOV became European Champion in 2001, and reached the highest sport-title in the year 2004, ruling the Olympic Games of Athens. During the last Olympic cycle, he did not delude the expectations of his spectators, improving his collection of medals. ALIPOV won the European title for the second time in his career in 2005, and finished in first at the following 2006 ISSF World Cup Final of Granada. The Olympic year of the Russian shotgun master came along with excellent results as well: Alexey distinguished himself during the regular ISSF World season, winning a precious Silver at the pre-Olympic competition of Beijing, and then stepped again on the podium at reaching the Bronze position at the World Cup in Suhl, at the end of the season.
The only “bad news” for ALIPOV is the comeback of the Australian athlete Michael DIAMOND, the Olympic Champion of Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000, the shooter that many consider almost unbeatable. After the Games of Athens (when he finished out of the podium), DIAMOND took some time off from shooting, but he showed to be ready to take back his title during the last season. He stated his comeback at the 2007 ISSF World Championships of Nicosia: DIAMOND came to win, and did it in the best way possible. In a windy day, the Australian shooter shot Gold with a new World Record of 148 hits that shattered the previous 147 held by ALIPOV.  After a few months, at the second stage of the 2008 ISSF World Cup held in Kerrville, he won Gold again, equalling his own record and leaving no space to doubts: DIAMOND is back, and his duel against ALIPOV is going to be a hot spot of this Games.

Trap Men Event