In the last weekend’s six shooting events, Serbia’s Damir Mikec won his second European Games Gold medal, while Italy’s Skeet team collected one Gold medal in the men event and one Silver and one Bronze in the women event. Swiss athlete Heidi Diethelm Gerber, British athlete Amber Hill, French shooter Valerian Sauveplan and German Pistol shooter Christian Reitz also collected Gold medals.
50m Pistol Men
Serbia’s fourth European Games Gold medal in shooting, once again, came thanks to Damir Mikec, 31, who previously reached the highest step of the Baku 2015 podium last Wednesday, claiming the 1st place in the 10m Air Pistol Men event.
Saturday, Mikec started the final on a low pace, chasing Ukranian athlete Oleh Omelchuk for the first half of the match. Then, from the fifth series on, he nailed four 10s and six 9s, overtaking his rival and claiming the top of the scoreboard with a final score of 192.2 points.
"After the Air Pistol I didn't relax and I didn't celebrate. I just cooled down and prepared for my other discipline, which is my favourite one so I feel more confident here.” Said Mikec. "In the final, I was trying not to pay attention to the fact I was first. It's really stressful for the shooters out there, but I'm glad the second Gold is mine."
Slovakia’s Pavol Klopp followed him in 2nd place with 187.5 points, claiming the Silver medal and the only Olympic quota up for grabs in this event; while Turkey’s Abdullah Omer Alimoglu finished 3rd with 167.1 points.
Omelchuk finished the final in a poor fashion, eventually missing the podium for a matter of tenths and closing 4th. Island’s Asgeir Sigurgeirsson placed 5th; Germany’s Florian Schmidt placed 6th; Turkey’s Yusuf Dikec finished 7th and Slovakia’s Juraj Tuzinsky, the Bronze medallist in the Air Pistol event three days earlier, finished 8th.
25m Pistol Women
The first Gold medal for Switzerland in the shooting sport at Baku 2015 arrived in the 25m Pistol Women, where Heidi Diethelm Gerber, ranked 6th in the world in this event, bested Bulgaria’s Antoaneta Boneva, 29.
Both Boneva and Diethelm Gerber qualified for the Gold medal match thanks to a 17-hits semifinal, and with the Swiss athlete already sure of getting the Rio 2016 slot she was chasing, the European Games Gold medal became the only prize they were battling for.
With the two finalists tied at 4 points after four series, Diethelm Gerber put together two great performances, hitting 4 targets in both her fifth and sixth series, claiming the 1st place with a final score of 8 to 4.
"I'm really happy because I got the quota place as well. At the World Cup I have been in the final three times and always finished sixth, seventh or eighth. I'm really happy to get the quota place for Switzerland. I expected to be in the final, but the qualification was quite bad. After this morning I thought it was not enough for the final but then my coach told me I got it. It feels good and I'm relaxed now, and I feel free and ready for the other competitions.” Diethelm Gerber declared after the podium celebration.
In the Bronze medal match, Monika Karsch of Germany prevailed over Yuliya Alipova of the Russian Federation with a 7-to-5 score; Munkhbayar Dorjsuren, also from Germany, closed the semifinal in 5th place; Olena Kostevych of Ukraine finished 6th, Sylvia Steiner of Austria placed 7th and Sonia Franquet of Spain finished 8th.
Skeet Women
It took almost three finals, but Great Britain’s Amber Hill finally managed to grab the European Games Gold medal in the Skeet Women event and, most importantly, the quota place for the next Olympic Games.
After Hill and Italian athlete Diana Bacosi concluded the semifinal with a perfect score of 16 hits, earning their way to the Gold medal match, they both miss one target on the third final series, finishing the regular rounds tied at 15 hits and switching to the shoot-off mode.
In the tie-breaker round, both Hill and Bacosi displayed some amazing shooting, shuttering an incredible amount of clays before Bacosi missed first on her thirtieth try, sealing the victory for Hill and the Silver medal for herself.
"It is incredible. It is the most amazing feeling. You train all these weeks just for this moment to hopefully win Gold. That is what I came here to do and I am just so pleased that I could do it and make GB proud as well.” Said Hill. "It is my dream to make it to Rio. That is what I have been working towards all these months and the feeling that it has actually paid off is just incredible. I can't wait to get out there now for more training - roll on 2016.”
"To win against Diana is an incredible feeling because I have so much respect for her. I just knew that I wasn't going to let her win this time because I have been fighting so hard for this and I just can't believe that it finally happened. I am just absolutely buzzing.” She concluded.
In the Bronze medal match, Chiaro Cainero, also from Italy, bested Slovakia’s Danka Bartekova 16 to 15 hits, with the Slovakian shooter missing his only target on her last series. Germany’s Christine Wenzel and Cyprus’ Andri Eleftheriou finished the semifinal in 5th and 6th place, marking 13 and 12 hits respectivley.
50m Rifle 3 Positions Men
In Sunday’s first event, France’s Valerian Sauveplan bested his seven opponents in the 50m Rifle 3 Positions Men final, also collecting the one and only Olympic quota available in this event.
The Fench shooter concluded with a score of 456.2 points, locking the victory with a stunning 10.8 on his third to last shot. A shot that allowed him to definitely overtook Croatia’s Petar Gorsa, 27, who was contending him both the Gold medal and the Olympic slot. Following the Croatian, Vitali Bubnovich of Belarus concluded third, earning himself his second Baku 2015 medal.
"I can't say I feel bad. Of course I am very happy. The most important thing was the quota place. To finish first is also important, but most important is the place for Rio. I was looking for it from the beginning of the year so I am very happy with that.” Said the French athlete.
"Usually prone and kneeling are my best position but today it was not very good. To come first after the kneeling and prone I shot today, I am very happy for that. It's a big competition, not only because it is the first European Games, but because of the quota place.” Sauveplan concluded.
Sergey Kamenskiy of the Russian Federation finidshed 4th, missing the podium after losing a shoot-off against Bubnovich. Germany’s Michael Janker placed 5th, while Italy’s Marco De Nicolo placed 6th, Ukraine’s Yuriy Sukhorukov concluded in 7th place and Switzerland’s Jan Lochbihler finished 8th.
Skeet Men
On Sunday’s second event, Italian shooter Valerio Luchini won the European Games Gold medal in the Skeet Men event.
He won it by crushing a perfect 16-out-of-16 hits in the final against Sweden’s Stefan Nilsson, who missed his very first target and uselessly chased Luchini for the whole Gold medal match, eventually missing his last one too and finishing with 14 hits. The Swedish shooter, anyway, can console himself with the Olympic quota he earned for his country, as Luchini previously collected his own one at this year’s World Cup stage in Acapulco, Mexico.
"I am very happy. This was a very important goal for me to achieve this medal and now we will work very hard for the next big competition, next year at the Olympic Games.
"I've been working really hard to get this far and to achieve this gold, and this hard work eventually paid off.” Luchini said.
In the Bronze medal match, Finland’s Marko Kemppainen beat Denmark’s Jesper Hansen 15 hits to 13, after both of them survived a four-way shoot-off that sent Nilsson to the Gold medal match and left Jan Sychra of the Czech Republic in 5th place. France’s Anthony Terras, finally, concluded in 6th place.
25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men
The sixth and last event of the weekend saw German shooter Christian Reitz claim the Gold medal in the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol Men final, followed by Alexei Klimov of the Russian Federation and by his teammate Oliver Geis, who respectively won the Silver and the Bronze medal.
Reitz jumped in 1st place after a solid 5-hits first series, defending himself from both Klimov and Geis with three more perfect rounds, and keeping the top of the table until the eight and last series, when he concluded with 33 points.
"It's perfect. It is the first European Games so I am very happy. The competition is great, it is like the Olympics. The range, Athletes Village and organisation are good and the Gold medal at the end is perfect.” Said Reitz after the medal ceremony.
"This year I have had really good results and this is also a really good step for me. The next championship is the European championship and I can look forward to that.” He concluded.
Silver medallist Alexei Klimov needed a shoot-off to earn the 2nd place, after both him and Geis closed the seventh series with 27 points.
As the three medallists all previously earned an Olympic quota place for Rio 2016, the one up for grabs in this event went to 4th placed Jorge Llames, who finished with 20 points. Roman Bondaruk of Ukraine and Fabrice Daumal of France complete the panel of the final, placing respectively 5th with 11 points and 6th with 7.
Tweet of the weekend
Even if you’re not used to Serbian, you can easily understand that Damir Mikec second Gold medal is something that deserve a celebration.