Exactly one year ago Hancock had won the Games of Beijing. He switched back to his old shotgun and came back to victory in Maribor, at the 2009 ISSF Shotgun World Championship.
The 2008 Olympic Champion Vincent HANCOCK
of the United States of America is the new Skeet Men World Champion. HANCOCK,
20-year old, won today’s final match with an almost perfect total score of 149
hits out of 150 targets, leaving the Silver medallist ACHILLEOS one target
behind him.
No chances to his opponents.
HANCOCK walked into the final round with
the highest qualification score of 124 hits out of 125 targets, and defended
his leadership by shooting a perfect final of 25 hits, leaving no chances to
his opponents. The young American shooter is not new to the World Championship
spotlights: he had won the 2005 ISSF World Championship in Lonato (ITA), when
he only was 16-year old.
Hancock won by coming back to his Olympic shotgun
“I went back to my old gun. I had
changed my shotgun after the Games, but results did not come. I changed back to
the shotgun I used in Beijing after the ISSF World Cup stage in San Marino, two
months ago.” HANCOCK said right after the final.
The American shooter did not shoot an international Gold medal since the
Olympic Final of Beijing which took place the 16 of August 2008, exactly one
year ago.
“I had done nothing this year, I was not
used to it, so it feels great to be on the podium, today” Said HANCOCK, current World and Olympic record holder, Olympic
Champion and two times World Champion. “My next appointment with the ISSF is
the World Cup Final in Beijing, next October.”
The title defender ended up in second
The title defender, the Cypriot shooter
Georgios ACHILLEOS of Cyprus, 28, finished in second place securing Silver with
a total score of 148 targets. The Cypriot athlete shot a perfect final, hitting
25 targets, but he had walked into the match with a qualification of 123 hits,
one target less than HANCOCK.
Bronze to the 41-year old Falco
Bronze went to the 1996 Olympic Champion of
Atlanta, the 41-year old Italian shooter Ennio FALCO, ending up with a total of
147 hits (122+25). The Italian shooter won today his sixth World Championship’s
medal out of a 25-year long sport career.
USA’s second finalist, the 44-year old
Shawn DULOHERY, 2001 World Champion, finished in fourth place with a total
score of 146 hits (122 +24), after missing a determinant target at the first
station. Following him, Valery SHOMIN of Russia placed in fifth with a total of
145 targets after outdoing 4 targets to 3 Czech’s Leos HLAVACEK in a shoot-off.
USA atop of the team podium with a new record.
Vincent HANCOCK, together with his teammates Shawn
DULOHERY and Frank THOMPSON, won the team Gold with an overall score of 366
hits out of 375 targets, setting a new World Record that shattered the previous
365-record set by the Italian team at the 2006 ISSF World Championship in
Zagreb.
USA’s team distanced the followers by four
targets. Coming in second, Finland (Marko KEMPPAINEN, Heikki MERILUOTO and
Lauri LESKINEN) won the team Silver with a total score of 361 targets.
Team Bronze went to Denmark, thanks to
Andres GOLDING, Jesper HANSEN and Michael NIELSEN, scoring a total of 361
targets.