Published on 06 Jul 2025

Prestigious ISSF World Cup Shotgun returns to Lonato

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The last round before the ISSF World Cup Final sets up for an exciting finish to the season.

Athletes will be vying for qualification for the ISSF World Cup Final, with the last leg of the ISSF World Cup Shotgun to get underway in Lonato, Italy.

It remains an open field for those looking to stamp their ticket to Doha in December and for those who seek a gold medal - there have been unique winners across all 12 individual events so far this season. 

Skeet has seen a lot of joy for Americans, who have won four of the six titles so far. On the men's side, Christian Elliott has been in the best form - winning gold in Buenos Aires and silver in Peru, behind his teammate Dustan Taylor. While he is amongst the favourites, the return of his compatriot may steal the headlines. 

Four-time Olympic men's skeet champion Vincent Hancock is entered to compete in his first World Cup of the season as he prepares for the ISSF World Championships later this year. Hancock has become known for his lighter schedule and it seems to work to his benefit. Between himself, Elliott and his protege and Olympic silver medallist Conner Prince all set to compete - an all-American podium cannot be ruled out. 


The United States swept the women's skeet podium in Lima
In fact, we have seen one already this season in the women's competition. Kim Rhode, one of the sport's greats, led a 1-2-3 in Lima ahead of Samantha Simonton and Dania Jo Vizzi. Between them, they have taken six of the nine podium spots so far this season, with Vizzi winning in Buenos Aires in a 1-2 with Rhode and Simonton claiming silver in Nicosia.

Their main challenger this season has been the AIN's Arina Kuznetsova. She took bronze in Argentina before winning her first World Cup title in Nicosia. Other potential contenders include China's Che Yufei who won bronze in Nicosia, Italy's Martina Bartolomei and Slovakia's Danka Hrbekova.

Other contenders on the men's side include Anant Naruka of India, Italians Tammaro Cassandro and Gabriele Rossetti, third-ranked Nicolas Pacheco of Peru, China's bronze medallist from Lima, Han Xu; and Denmark's silver medallist from Nicosia, Jesper Hansen.

Guessing the women's and men's trap medallists this year would be no easy feat as only two athletes have stood on the podium more than once - Americans Carey Garrison and William Hinton.

In the women's trap, 20-year-old Garrison is looking for that first gold medal after two close misses this season. She made it onto the World Cup podium for the first time in Buenos Aires, finishing second to Australia's Olympic bronze medallist Penny Smith. She would win silver again in Nicosia - this time runner-up to AIN's Lada Denisova. Both Smith and Denisova will return, as will Olympic silver medallist Silvana Stanco of Italy, who won in Lima. Others to look out for are Olympic champion Adriana Ruano and San Marino's Alessandra Perilli. 
William Hinton has appeared on the men's trap podium twice this season
Hinton was a winner in the men's trap in Lima and took the bronze medal in Buenos Aires behind his teammate Glenn Eller. Jean Pierre Brol, who won the Olympic bronze medal in Paris and won the opening round this season in Buenos Aires, will be a consistent challenger, while Britain's Aaron Heading will be looking to add to his bronze medal from Nicosia.

Others to watch include Croatia's Giovanni Cernogoraz, Olympic silver medallist Qi Ying and Australia's James Willett.

There are 551 athletes entered from 74 National Federations at the Trap Concaverde, with finals running from the 8th to 13th of July.