American Will Hinton won his first ISSF World Cup Final gold medal in the final event of the 2025 season in Doha, Qatar, finishing a successful year on a high in the men's trap.
His teammate Glenn Eller took the bronze, with Guatemala's Jean Pierre Brol sandwiched between them for the silver, having taken Hinton to a nail-biting last shot.
Qualification
Setting the standard in the men's qualification was the United States' Will Hinton, who finished on 122 alongside Jean Pierre Brol of Guatemala, taking the top seed based on his third-round score of 25.
Italy's Mauro de Filippis was third on 121, followed by Olympic silver medallist Qi Ying of China in fourth on 120. Three athletes would finish on 119 to make the top eight - US' Glenn Eller, Zoravar Singh Sandhu and Spain's Manuel Murcia - while Italy's Giovanni Pellielo took the final spot on 117, having tied with Qatar's Mohammed Al-Rumaihi - only advancing due to a better score in round five.
Testament to the quality of the field, the other three to miss out - world silver medallist Andres Garcia of Spain, Saeed Hamad R A Abusharib of Qatar and Croatia's world champion Josip Glasnovic - were just one shot short of the final too, all finishing on 116.
Glasnovic had started at the top with a perfect 50 after two rounds, but would struggle afterwards with scores of 21, 23 and 22.
His teammate Glenn Eller took the bronze, with Guatemala's Jean Pierre Brol sandwiched between them for the silver, having taken Hinton to a nail-biting last shot.
Qualification
Setting the standard in the men's qualification was the United States' Will Hinton, who finished on 122 alongside Jean Pierre Brol of Guatemala, taking the top seed based on his third-round score of 25.
Italy's Mauro de Filippis was third on 121, followed by Olympic silver medallist Qi Ying of China in fourth on 120. Three athletes would finish on 119 to make the top eight - US' Glenn Eller, Zoravar Singh Sandhu and Spain's Manuel Murcia - while Italy's Giovanni Pellielo took the final spot on 117, having tied with Qatar's Mohammed Al-Rumaihi - only advancing due to a better score in round five.
Testament to the quality of the field, the other three to miss out - world silver medallist Andres Garcia of Spain, Saeed Hamad R A Abusharib of Qatar and Croatia's world champion Josip Glasnovic - were just one shot short of the final too, all finishing on 116.
Glasnovic had started at the top with a perfect 50 after two rounds, but would struggle afterwards with scores of 21, 23 and 22.
The Final
Half of the field started perfectly, with five from five - those being the top qualifiers Will Hinton and Jean Pierre Brol, as well as Hinton's compatriot Glenn Eller and Mauro de Filippis of Italy. Qi Ying and Manuel Murcia scored four, while Giovanni Pellielo struggled with two, one ahead of the world bronze medallist Zoravar Singh Sandhu on three.
More consistent scores came in the next five, which would see two eliminated. Unfortunately for Sandhu and Pellielo, everyone else's high scoring meant their four shots from five would not close the gap, leaving them in seventh and eighth.
The only athlete to remain flawless at 10 targets was Hinton, who saw Brol, Eller and De Filippis all miss once, as they went level on nine with Qi, who scored all five. Murcia was now at the bottom with eight out of 10.
Showing how crucial it is to have clear records in rounds of five, Murcia's consecutive scores of four would see him bow out in sixth place at the halfway stage on 12. With this being again, a double elimination, the four athletes locked on four would need to score perfectly to have a chance of staying in the competition.
Brol and Eller would achieve this, moving onto 14, while De Filippis and Qi would miss once, putting them on 13. Hinton's first miss came on the 12th target, putting him level at the top on 14. That one shot difference in qualification would keep the Italian in the competition, who held the number 3 on his bib compared to the Chinese's 4.
Half of the field started perfectly, with five from five - those being the top qualifiers Will Hinton and Jean Pierre Brol, as well as Hinton's compatriot Glenn Eller and Mauro de Filippis of Italy. Qi Ying and Manuel Murcia scored four, while Giovanni Pellielo struggled with two, one ahead of the world bronze medallist Zoravar Singh Sandhu on three.
More consistent scores came in the next five, which would see two eliminated. Unfortunately for Sandhu and Pellielo, everyone else's high scoring meant their four shots from five would not close the gap, leaving them in seventh and eighth.
The only athlete to remain flawless at 10 targets was Hinton, who saw Brol, Eller and De Filippis all miss once, as they went level on nine with Qi, who scored all five. Murcia was now at the bottom with eight out of 10.
Showing how crucial it is to have clear records in rounds of five, Murcia's consecutive scores of four would see him bow out in sixth place at the halfway stage on 12. With this being again, a double elimination, the four athletes locked on four would need to score perfectly to have a chance of staying in the competition.
Brol and Eller would achieve this, moving onto 14, while De Filippis and Qi would miss once, putting them on 13. Hinton's first miss came on the 12th target, putting him level at the top on 14. That one shot difference in qualification would keep the Italian in the competition, who held the number 3 on his bib compared to the Chinese's 4.
Errorless Second Half Takes Hinton to the Title
A minor blip was all Hinton could afford if he wanted the gold medal. He was matched by Brol and Eller through the next five shots, meaning De Filippis would be eliminated, even if he had made the two missed shots at the end.
The crucial point came in the next five shots, with Hinton scoring all five, as both the Guatemalan and his teammate missing once. Brol was the first time to make an error, on target 21 and Eller's would be even more crucial on target 23. With Brol the superior second seed, he only had to tie with the American to remain in the competition. Shooting first, he cleared his next two as hopes of an American one-two faded.
With a one-point gap, Hinton had to remain composed to secure the gold medal. He denied any dramatic shoot-offs when he cleared his last shot before Brol would clear his too. The top two finished on 29 and 28 respectively.
For Hinton it was gold on his ISSF World Cup Final debut, having started 2025 with a best finish at the ISSF World Cup of eighth, and ending with a gold and a bronze, before adding the title in Doha. Brol, who made his World Cup Final debut last year in New Delhi, took his first medal in the competition, concluding a season that showed 2024 was no fluke. Eller was a debutant in the trap event, having excelled in the past in the double trap, where he won five World Cup Final medals in 11 appearances.
China would top the medal table in the end with four golds and nine medals in total, with India and the United States in second and third respectively with two golds and six medals overall. Czechia, Italy, Norway and Sweden would all claim golds too and Germany finished with three medals.
Great Britain, Guatemala, Republic of Korea, San Marino, France, Greece, Hungary and Turkey all made it onto the medal table too.
A minor blip was all Hinton could afford if he wanted the gold medal. He was matched by Brol and Eller through the next five shots, meaning De Filippis would be eliminated, even if he had made the two missed shots at the end.
The crucial point came in the next five shots, with Hinton scoring all five, as both the Guatemalan and his teammate missing once. Brol was the first time to make an error, on target 21 and Eller's would be even more crucial on target 23. With Brol the superior second seed, he only had to tie with the American to remain in the competition. Shooting first, he cleared his next two as hopes of an American one-two faded.
With a one-point gap, Hinton had to remain composed to secure the gold medal. He denied any dramatic shoot-offs when he cleared his last shot before Brol would clear his too. The top two finished on 29 and 28 respectively.
For Hinton it was gold on his ISSF World Cup Final debut, having started 2025 with a best finish at the ISSF World Cup of eighth, and ending with a gold and a bronze, before adding the title in Doha. Brol, who made his World Cup Final debut last year in New Delhi, took his first medal in the competition, concluding a season that showed 2024 was no fluke. Eller was a debutant in the trap event, having excelled in the past in the double trap, where he won five World Cup Final medals in 11 appearances.
China would top the medal table in the end with four golds and nine medals in total, with India and the United States in second and third respectively with two golds and six medals overall. Czechia, Italy, Norway and Sweden would all claim golds too and Germany finished with three medals.
Great Britain, Guatemala, Republic of Korea, San Marino, France, Greece, Hungary and Turkey all made it onto the medal table too.
What the Athletes Had to Say
Will Hinton: "It has gone to plan. I had a good qualification and we shot the new final here so I had a good bib going in, but once you're in the final you've got to keep that good bib by not missing, so I did a little evaluating from the first world final I was in and it's great to take home the gold.
"The biggest thing the final is a different animal, because one bib matters so much, but you have to hit the targets. Before, you had a round of targets to build a lead or bounce back, but now you have five or 10 targets and that's all you get. It's really do or die out there. I would like to say I was cool, calm and collected, but I was on edge the whole time.
"I don't have a single thing planned. I'm going to take a break, my gun did its job at the end of the year so I'm going to take a well-deserved break and get back at it probably in late January."
Jean Pierre Brol: "I'm very happy and excited for this medal and I'm also very happy because my coach made a last-minute adjustment at the end of the competition that helped me get here. I had a very good team here. My wife is here and she's very important to me and for this medal, and I'm here with the best of the best shooting teams.
"I started the year with a good result and I finished the year with a good result so I think that's good for me. The competition was really fast and that's something that I have to get accustomed to, but I think I had a good year."
Glenn Eller: "I'm feeling great. That was a tough fought final and it was great to get in there and get another medal to cap the year off.
"The new final, we didn't know what it was going to be, how it was going to work, and it worked out in our favour. I'm very happy for my teammate to take home the gold.
"It felt good to win something and it was my first World Cup Final in trap actually so it was good to come out here and bring one home. I can't wait to take a little time off for Christmas and probably through January and then get back at it for the first World Cups next year, but it's really important to know that I can do it and be there and know that I belong on that stage in trap."
Will Hinton: "It has gone to plan. I had a good qualification and we shot the new final here so I had a good bib going in, but once you're in the final you've got to keep that good bib by not missing, so I did a little evaluating from the first world final I was in and it's great to take home the gold.
"The biggest thing the final is a different animal, because one bib matters so much, but you have to hit the targets. Before, you had a round of targets to build a lead or bounce back, but now you have five or 10 targets and that's all you get. It's really do or die out there. I would like to say I was cool, calm and collected, but I was on edge the whole time.
"I don't have a single thing planned. I'm going to take a break, my gun did its job at the end of the year so I'm going to take a well-deserved break and get back at it probably in late January."
Jean Pierre Brol: "I'm very happy and excited for this medal and I'm also very happy because my coach made a last-minute adjustment at the end of the competition that helped me get here. I had a very good team here. My wife is here and she's very important to me and for this medal, and I'm here with the best of the best shooting teams.
"I started the year with a good result and I finished the year with a good result so I think that's good for me. The competition was really fast and that's something that I have to get accustomed to, but I think I had a good year."
Glenn Eller: "I'm feeling great. That was a tough fought final and it was great to get in there and get another medal to cap the year off.
"The new final, we didn't know what it was going to be, how it was going to work, and it worked out in our favour. I'm very happy for my teammate to take home the gold.
"It felt good to win something and it was my first World Cup Final in trap actually so it was good to come out here and bring one home. I can't wait to take a little time off for Christmas and probably through January and then get back at it for the first World Cups next year, but it's really important to know that I can do it and be there and know that I belong on that stage in trap."