Alberto Fernandez of Spain shot the men’s trap gold with a world record, as he beat a strong field in fading light in the World Cup Final at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Sunday.
The former World Champion, Fernandez had a strong start in the final, hitting the first 31 birds in the single-shot competition. It was much in contrast to his qualification performance when he had to win a shoot-off after being tied on 119 to make the final.
It was a brilliant performance as Fernandez did not miss another bird in the final till he let the last go, after having confirmed the gold.
He won by a two-point margin. The London Olympics gold medallist Giovanni Cernogoraz of Croatia, the qualification topper, won the bronze ahead of Antonio Bailon of Spain, Giovanni Pellielo of Italy and Aaron Heading of Britain.
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Keith Sanderson of the US and Alexis Raynaud of France won the men’s rapid fire pistol and 50-metre rifle 3-position gold respectively.
The Champion of Champions awards in both rifle and pistol were won by the Chinese against stiff competition from medallists from various countries.
Sui Gencheng of China emerged the rifle Champion of champions as he beat Istvan Peni of Hungary by 0.1 point with a 10.7 last shot in the three-shot climax. He won 30.7 to 30.6 in a competition that featured 11 shooters.
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Earlier, it was woman power to the fore, as Zhang Mengxue beat Pavlo Korostylov of Ukraine with an improbable 10.9 last shot, to win 30.4 to 28.8. With all the Indian shooters having left for the Commonwealth Championship in Brisbane, there was no Indian representation. It may be recalled that Jitu Rai and Heena Sidhu had given a strong start for the World Cup Final by winning the mixed air pistol gold medal on the opening day.
Italy topped the medals table with two gold, three silver and a bronze, and was followed by China with two gold, two silver and five bronze medals. India was seventh with gold, silver and a bronze, from among the 20 countries out of 45 that managed to win at least a medal.
The results
Men:
25m rapid fire pistol: 1. Keith Sanderson (US) 31 (585); 2. Clement Bessaguet (Fra) 29 (590); 3. Song Jong Ho (Kor) 24 (582).
50m rifle 3-position: 1. Alexis Raynaud (Fra) 461.7 (1179); 2. Filip Nepejchal (Cze) 458.5 (1182); 3. Istvan Peni (Hun) 449.1 (1185) EWRJ.
Trap: 1. Alberto Fernandez (Esp) 48 (WR) 119(3); 2. Daniele Resca (Ita) 46 (120); 3. Giovanni Cernogoraz (Cro) 37 (122)2.
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