International athletes were welcomed by Cyprus' President at today's opening ceremony held at the shooting range of Nicosia. Trap Women shooters will compete tomorrow morning. Will the wind be a fierce opponent?
The third leg of the 2013 ISSF Shotgun World Cup kicked-off in Nicosia, Cyprus, today. More than 380 shooters coming from 58 countries arrived there to compete in the five Olympic events of shotgun shooting from the 10 to the 16 of June.
The competition was officially opened today by the President of Cyprus, Mr. Nicos Anastasiades, who welcomed the international athletes at the opening party.
“We welcome you in this small but beautiful mediterranean island, and promise you that we will do our best to make your stay here successful and memorable. We are very proud to host this important event.” The President of the Cyprus Shooting Sport Federation and chairman of the ISSF Shotgun Committee, Mr. Demetris Lordos, said during his opening speech.
“On behalf of the President of the International Shooting Sport Federation, Mr. Olegario Vazquez Raña, I would like to welcome all the participants at the third leg of this year's ISSF Shotgun World Cup Series.” The ISSF Vice President, Mr. Medhat Wahdan, said. “We would like to express our gratitude to the Cyprus Shooting Sport Federation for hosting this important event, and thank his Excellency Mr. Nico Anastasiades, the President of Cyprus, for attending at this Opening Ceremony. Once again, the Government of Cyprus granted a great support to the shooting sport.”
Following Acapulco (MEX) and Al Ain (UAE), Nicosia's is the third step of this year's ISSF Wolrd Cup Series. International shooters are familiar with this venue, where the 2007 ISSF World Championship and the 2008 European Championship were held. While clear skies, pleasant temperatures and great setups are the highlights of this range settled in the middle of the mediterranean see, the wind can be a real challenge and turn any round into a thrilling arm-wrestling against the gale. It happened in 2007, it happened again in 2008: only the bests can make it through the finals, in Cyprus. And the bests are certainly here. Top athletes from all around the world came to Nicosia to win a medal and to secure qualifying points for the 2013 ISSF Shotgun World Cup Final to be held in Abu Dhabi next October.
Who will make it? We'll find out soon. The first match, the Trap Women event, will start tomorrow morning (10 of June), with the final scheduled to take place at 5 PM local time.
Follow the competition on www.issf-sports.org!