Great Britain’s 24-year old shooter beat China’s Hu Binyuan and India’s Sodhi winning the brightest medal with 195 hits.
With one year to go to the 2012 London Games, Great Britain can now count on a new shooting star: the 24-year old shooter Peter Rober Russell Wilson, who won today’s Double Trap final at the 2011 ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Maribor, Slovenia, pocketing his second international medal of the season.
The young athlete - who had already won an Olympic Quota Place by placing in second at the ISSF World Cup in Concepcion, Chile at the beginning of the season – had never won an ISSF Gold medal, before.
Entering today’s match with the highest qualification score - 146 hits out of 150 targets – Wilson climbed in the lead by hitting 49 out of 50 targets in the final, and left Beijing’s Olympic Bronze medallist Hu Binyuan and India’s sharpshooter Ronjan Sodhi in second and third place one target behind him.
“It feels great!” Commented the British shooter, wearing the Gold medal with a total score of 195 hits.
“Last time I had been here, in 2006, I won the European Junior Championship, I like this range… it’s a great place!”
“I will be going to the World Cup Final, in September.” Wilson concluded.
“He has great potentials!” His coach, the 2004 Olympic Champion Ahmed Al Maktoum of the United Aram Emirates, said after the final.
“I started coaching him one year ago, after I saw him shooting. He’s my best student, and he’s learning fast.”
“Two World Cup medals in one season is a great result. How far can he get? We will see that in the next future.” Concluded Al Maktoum, who placed in eighth with 143 hits, just one target out of the final, today.
China’s Hu Binyuan placed in second winning the Silver with a total score of 194+2 targets, after shooting-off India’s 31-year old finalist Ronjan Sodhi 2 to 1 hits. Sodhi was awarded the Bronze, his second medal this year after the Silver he pocketed at the last World Cup in Beijing.
USA’s Joshua Richmond, the reigning Double Trap World Champion, closed his match in fourth place with a final score of 192 hits. After qualifying with 145 targets, he hit 47 clays in the final, missing the podium by two hits.
He was followed by Italy’s 36-year old finalist Daniele Di Spigno and by Hungary’s Richard Bogner, 44, who placed in fifth and sixth place with a total score of 191 targets, both winning an Olympic Quota Place for the 2012 London Games.
592 shooters coming from 77 countries are competing here in Maribor in the fourth and last ISSF Shotgun World Cup Stage of the year, trying to secure an Olympic Quota Place for the 2012 London Games, and a qualification spot at the 2011 ISSF Shotgun World Cup Final, which will be held in Al Ain (UAE) starting from the 30 of September.
The next medal match of this World Cup Stage, the Skeet Women final, will be held the day after tomorrow, Thursday the 14, at 19.30 (Slovenian time).
Stay tuned on www.issf-sports.org for more news on the event!