Joshua Richmond (USA) won the final with one target of advantage over Sweden’s Hakan Dahlby. USA’s Holguin claimed Bronze after an incredible series of 71 consecutive hits.
Today’s Double Trap Men Final was won by USA’s Joshua Richmond, 24, who secured Gold with a total score of 192 hits, finishing on the highest step of the podium with one targets of advantage on his followers.
The American shooter made it into the final with the qualification’s highest score, 144 hits, tied to the Swedish champion Hakan Dahlby. The two athletes duelled neck and neck right up to the twentieth pair, when Dahlby missed a crucial clay sliding down in second place.
With 48 hits in the final, and a total score of 192 targets, Richmond won the third ISSF World Cup Gold medal of his career. The 24-year old athlete, currently ranked eighth in the ISSF World Ranking, had won the 2007 World Cup held in Lonato and the 2009 Stage in Munich.
“It’s great to be on the podium – said Richmond after the award ceremony –I would like to take the chance to salute our teammate Bill Keever, who’s in Afghanistan right now. Come back safe, Bill!”
Richmond’s teammate Jaffrey Holguin, 31, a finalist of the last Olympic Games, turned out to be the protagonist of a perfect final. Making it into the medal match with a qualification score of 141 hits, Holguin did not miss a single target during the all final, climbing up the scoreboard to finish with a total of 191 hits, tying Hakan Dahlby .
Holguin and Dahlby met then in an endless shoot-off for Silver. The tie was broken at the twenty-second shoot-off clay, when Holguin missed his first target after an outstanding series of 71 consecutive hits.
Dahlby secured Silver with 191+22 hits, coming back on an ISSF World Cup podium after missing since 2008. “I am really really happy with my shooting – said the Swedish athlete – but of course I am sorry that I missed the Gold… It hasn’t been easy: my shooting range in Sweden is covered by 70 cm of snow since last December. I have been training a couple of weeks in Cyprus and Malaga, trying to get ready for this World Cup…”
“ It’s great to come back on an ISSF podium, - added Dahlby - I would like to dedicate this medal to my wife Charlotte. I got married the last 10th of October, and we are now waiting a baby. Therefore, I will probably be in Beijing at the next World Cup, but I might not come to the following events… I am going to become a father!”
Holguin joined his teammate Richmond on the podium, winning the Bronze medal with 191+21 hits.
India’s Vikram Bhatnagar, 39, a first time finalist, closed the match in fourth place with a total score of 186 hits, followed by the two Chinese teammates Pan Qiang and Nan Wang, fifth and sixth with 185 and 181 hits, respectively.