19-year old Rossi made it at her fourth try, with six targets of advantage. Germany’s Quoos pocketed the Silver, overtaking China’s Wu Cuicui. “Hello Kitty” did not help Chinese’s Taipei Lin Yi Chun to get on the podium: she finished in fourth, one target behind the medallists, in spite of her lucky charm.
“Finally I made it!” Exclaimed Jessica Rossi, the winner of today’s Trap Women match at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup Final, held in Al Ain, UAE, from September the 30th to October the 7th.
“I have been chasing this title since four years!” the young Italian shooter said, eager for results, in spite of being just 19-year old.
Entering today’s medal match in the lead with a score of 70 hits after the qualifications, Jessica started-off the match with four targets of advantage on her followers.
Managing her head start advantage, the Italian shooter from Crevalcore hit 23 out of 25 targets during the final, more than anybody else, to land on the highest step of the podium with a golden score of 93 hits. Six targets more than her closest opponent, the German Silver medallist Katrin Quoos.
“I have been qualifying for the ISSF World Cup Final every year, since 2008. Last year I even finished on the podium. But I was looking for the big Cup, and finally I got it!” Said Rossi, who had placed in second at last year’s ISSF World Cup Final in Izmir (TUR).
Shooting since she was a child, when her father used to train her in their backyard, Rossi won her first ISSF World Cup Stage in Shul (GER) in 2008, at the age of 16. Then, the following year, she secured the World Title at the 2009 ISSF World Championship in Maribor, beating Olympic champions and world record holders.
This year, she finished on the podium at the first world cup stage of the seasons, winning a silver medal in Sydney, and then led the ISSF World Cup Stage in Beijing, qualifying for this final.
“It has been a long season.” Jessica said; “I came here to shoot the last match of the year, and I had a lot of fun. Now it’s time for some holidays!”
The Silver medal went to Germany’s Katrin Quoos, a 24-year old shooter from Kyritz, who had never finished on an ISSF podium, before. In spite of equalling the world record at this year’s ISSF world cup stage in Maribor (where she placed then in fourth), Quoos had never won a major medal, before.
Entering today’s final round with a qualification score of 66 hits in third place, the German shooter climbed up the scoreboard by hitting 22 targets in the final, to finish then in second place with a total of 87 hits.
China’s Wu Cuicui secured today’s Bronze medal, finishing in third with a total of 83 hits. The 23-year old Chinese finalist, who qualified for this match by winning a Bronze at this year’s first world cup stage in Sydney, finished on the podium in spite of hitting 17 targets only during the medal match.
Coming in fourth, “Hello Kitty” did not bring enough luck to Chinese’s Taipei Lin Yi Chun, shooting with a pink amulet of the popular cat stitched to the barrels of her shotgun. The 30-year old shooter finished indeed with a total of 82 (62+20) hits, just one target far from the podium, in spite of her lucky charm “Which usually brings me luck… usually…”
Following her, Russia’s Elena Tkach closed in fifth with 80 (61+19) hits, while the Olympic Silver medallist of Beijing Zuzana Stefecekova (SVK) closed the round in sixth with 78 (63+15) hits.