In his welcome speech the ISSF President Vladimir Lisin thanked the Organizers for the good preparation and perfect weather arrangements. He said:
On behalf of the International Shooting Sport Federation I welcome the participants, organizers and guests of the 2019 World Championship Shotgun!
The competitions will be held near the lake Garda, one of the most beautiful destinations of the North Italy. Since long ago this country has been among the trendsetters in Shotgun Shooting. And the Trap Concaverde range is one of the main centers of the international shooting sport.
We must follow the best examples. But not be limited with them. Our common goal is to facilitate the development of Shotgun Shooting across all the continents, contribute to the creation of new ranges and increase the number of competitions.
We have wonderful athletes. We know them. It is necessary now to turn them into the stars of international sport. People must recognize them in the streets. The younger generation must want to follow their examples. Sponsors should be waiting in the queue for a possibility to use them for promotional purposes.
We must also achieve another goal: the shooting sport should not be associated with aggression or danger to the environment. This can be achieved if all Member Federations follow the same fairway and do not try to divide our community from inside.
This is my first World Championship Shotgun in the capacity of the ISSF President. A lot has been done. We provide the management of the qualitative TV product. We know that broadcasting from Lonato will cover all the continents. We have signed the agreement with Eurosport and have a guarantee that the Finals in the individual Olympic events will be shown on this channel for the first time. The whole world must appreciate that our sport is beautiful and human. All this allow me to warn everybody: I want to be proud of this Championship!
I wish success to all participating athletes and declare the 2019 World Championship Shotgun open!