Manuel Murcia
The 45-year-old bricklayer Manuel Murcia headed into Nicosia this season to deliver his best result of his career in qualification - 123 targets struck in the men's trap competition from a possible 125.
It had been his best performance in this qualification format by a full four targets, previously scoring 119 at the 2022 ISSF World Championship, where he scored a career best of 19th. The Spanish athlete had only made the top 10 individually three times in his career and they all came in 1998 and 1999 as a junior. His crowning achievement and only solo medal came in Barcelona 27 years ago, where he won world junior bronze.
Now in his first final at the ISSF World Cup, Murcia strung together consistent series, scoring two perfect fives and three fours at the halfway stage to sit tied at the top with Czechia's Jan Palacky and Slovakian Filip Marinov. Marinov would exit after just one extra miss, showing the fourth seed Murcia could be in peril, with all four remaining athletes tied.
Palacky would be next to fall with a double miss as the top three remained inseparable. It would take Murcia holding his nerve with a clear five and a four to go ahead of Belgium's Yannick Peters with five to go. Scoring all five, he realised his dream, claiming the gold medal - one that no one expected.
Murcia's win qualified him for the ISSF World Cup Final. While a dream run to the medals would not be on the cards, he finished a respectable sixth in a high-quality field. Nicosia was no fluke.
The 45-year-old bricklayer Manuel Murcia headed into Nicosia this season to deliver his best result of his career in qualification - 123 targets struck in the men's trap competition from a possible 125.
It had been his best performance in this qualification format by a full four targets, previously scoring 119 at the 2022 ISSF World Championship, where he scored a career best of 19th. The Spanish athlete had only made the top 10 individually three times in his career and they all came in 1998 and 1999 as a junior. His crowning achievement and only solo medal came in Barcelona 27 years ago, where he won world junior bronze.
Now in his first final at the ISSF World Cup, Murcia strung together consistent series, scoring two perfect fives and three fours at the halfway stage to sit tied at the top with Czechia's Jan Palacky and Slovakian Filip Marinov. Marinov would exit after just one extra miss, showing the fourth seed Murcia could be in peril, with all four remaining athletes tied.
Palacky would be next to fall with a double miss as the top three remained inseparable. It would take Murcia holding his nerve with a clear five and a four to go ahead of Belgium's Yannick Peters with five to go. Scoring all five, he realised his dream, claiming the gold medal - one that no one expected.
Murcia's win qualified him for the ISSF World Cup Final. While a dream run to the medals would not be on the cards, he finished a respectable sixth in a high-quality field. Nicosia was no fluke.
Seonaid McIntosh
Mentioning one of the favourites for the Olympic title just 18 months ago may seem like a bit of a stretch, but Great Britain's Seonaid McIntosh has delivered one of the feel-good stories of the season right at the end.
The Scot had plans to retire after the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, but struggled at the event, failing to qualify for the finals she was competing in. She was then hit with two bouts of surgery in September on her jaw and her hip, meaning she had missed a lot of the 2025 season, including all of the ISSF World Cup legs.
She returned with little preparation in Cairo for the ISSF World Championship. In the women's 50m rifle 3 positions, she qualified for the final, where she sat in the midtable for a long period. Only when she started to come under pressure in elimination did she start to flourish. The best athlete in the elimination shots, McIntosh came alive with scores of 10.8 - coming close to making the top two. Considering she started the elimination stage in fifth, a bronze medal was well-deserved.
Her medal ensured she qualified for the ISSF World Cup Final, where she pulled out more consistent scoring in the elimination shots, only being bettered by the world champion Jeanette Hegg Duestad of Norway who took the gold.
Mentioning one of the favourites for the Olympic title just 18 months ago may seem like a bit of a stretch, but Great Britain's Seonaid McIntosh has delivered one of the feel-good stories of the season right at the end.
The Scot had plans to retire after the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, but struggled at the event, failing to qualify for the finals she was competing in. She was then hit with two bouts of surgery in September on her jaw and her hip, meaning she had missed a lot of the 2025 season, including all of the ISSF World Cup legs.
She returned with little preparation in Cairo for the ISSF World Championship. In the women's 50m rifle 3 positions, she qualified for the final, where she sat in the midtable for a long period. Only when she started to come under pressure in elimination did she start to flourish. The best athlete in the elimination shots, McIntosh came alive with scores of 10.8 - coming close to making the top two. Considering she started the elimination stage in fifth, a bronze medal was well-deserved.
Her medal ensured she qualified for the ISSF World Cup Final, where she pulled out more consistent scoring in the elimination shots, only being bettered by the world champion Jeanette Hegg Duestad of Norway who took the gold.
Maximilian Dallinger
The men's 10m air rifle final would see the Olympic gold and silver medallists Sheng Lihao of China and Victor Lindgren of Sweden face off in what looked like a showdown for the world title.
Unbeknownst to them, it was Germany's Maxmilian Dallinger that would stand with them on the podium - and in the top spot.
Dallinger's success on the international stage had been limited - he took a silver medal at the 2023 ISSF World Cup leg in Rio de Janeiro, a silver at the 2024 ISSF Grand Prix and two junior European titles. It was also only his second world final at the age of 29 - having previously finished seventh in the 50m rifle 3 positions final three years ago when the ISSF World Championship were also in Egypt.
Ths time, he excelled in the first competition stage, sitting top of the table, with Sheng and Lindgren close enough to catch. Within two shots Japan's Naoki Hanakawa was now the leader, while Lindgren had went level with the German, but Dallinger scored 10.6 and 10.9 to move back to the top.
But Lindgren continued to deliver excellent scores and with that, took the lead. He had a gap of 0.4 going into the last two shots. A 10.6 from Dallinger and a 9.9 from Lindgren changed their fortunes and the underdog had completed a fantastic win.
The men's 10m air rifle final would see the Olympic gold and silver medallists Sheng Lihao of China and Victor Lindgren of Sweden face off in what looked like a showdown for the world title.
Unbeknownst to them, it was Germany's Maxmilian Dallinger that would stand with them on the podium - and in the top spot.
Dallinger's success on the international stage had been limited - he took a silver medal at the 2023 ISSF World Cup leg in Rio de Janeiro, a silver at the 2024 ISSF Grand Prix and two junior European titles. It was also only his second world final at the age of 29 - having previously finished seventh in the 50m rifle 3 positions final three years ago when the ISSF World Championship were also in Egypt.
Ths time, he excelled in the first competition stage, sitting top of the table, with Sheng and Lindgren close enough to catch. Within two shots Japan's Naoki Hanakawa was now the leader, while Lindgren had went level with the German, but Dallinger scored 10.6 and 10.9 to move back to the top.
But Lindgren continued to deliver excellent scores and with that, took the lead. He had a gap of 0.4 going into the last two shots. A 10.6 from Dallinger and a 9.9 from Lindgren changed their fortunes and the underdog had completed a fantastic win.
Gabriela Rodriguez
Mexico's Gabriela Rodriguez is no average athlete, but her career is marked with many near-misses.
At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Rodriguez was nudged out in women's skeet qualification in a gruelling double shoot-off that saw Francisca Crovetto of Chile qualify and go on to become the gold medallist.
Two years ago in Baku, she would come close to her first world final, finishing 10th and in her first ISSF World Cup Final last year, she would miss the final format in ninth. Even on the ISSF World Cup circuit, she had finished fourth once, fifth twice and sixth once over the past three seasons, still searching for that individual medal. Her only individual medal had been a silver at the 2023 Pan American Games and has just missed the podium at three Continental American Championships.
But Athens brought her some good fortune. She finished qualification in second place, giving herself a cushion in case she got locked in an elimination battle. She sat joint-third after 20 targets, but crucially missed just one of her next 20 to go clear of China's Jiang Yiting, but also go level with the early leader, Sweden's Victoria Larsson.
Larsson's two misses in her next 10 meant Rodriguez had secured at least a silver. She would finish in second as she was unable to mathematically catch the United States' Samantha Simonton, who struck 36 targets in a row at the end.
Mexico's Gabriela Rodriguez is no average athlete, but her career is marked with many near-misses.
At the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Rodriguez was nudged out in women's skeet qualification in a gruelling double shoot-off that saw Francisca Crovetto of Chile qualify and go on to become the gold medallist.
Two years ago in Baku, she would come close to her first world final, finishing 10th and in her first ISSF World Cup Final last year, she would miss the final format in ninth. Even on the ISSF World Cup circuit, she had finished fourth once, fifth twice and sixth once over the past three seasons, still searching for that individual medal. Her only individual medal had been a silver at the 2023 Pan American Games and has just missed the podium at three Continental American Championships.
But Athens brought her some good fortune. She finished qualification in second place, giving herself a cushion in case she got locked in an elimination battle. She sat joint-third after 20 targets, but crucially missed just one of her next 20 to go clear of China's Jiang Yiting, but also go level with the early leader, Sweden's Victoria Larsson.
Larsson's two misses in her next 10 meant Rodriguez had secured at least a silver. She would finish in second as she was unable to mathematically catch the United States' Samantha Simonton, who struck 36 targets in a row at the end.
Zoravar Singh Sandhu
There were many candidates this season who could have been included: Italian great Giovanni Pellielo who rolled back the years to win an ISSF World Cup gold in Lonato at the age of 55, or Spain's Mar Molne finally having the breakthrough to win the women's world trap title.
Or even Samrat Rana, whose only senior international appearance beforehand was 10th place at the Ningbo ISSF World Cup, who ended China's Hu Kai streak of wins in the men's 10m air pistol at the ISSF World Championship.
But Rana's Indian teammate Zoravar Singh Sandhu gets the nod on this occasion. The 48-year-old, much like Manuel Murcia, has a career dating back to the nineties and heading into Athens had an ISSF World Championship best result of 15th in Barcelona from 1998.
In that 27-year period, Sandhu made the men's trap final at an ISSF World Cup on three occasions, winning his sole individual medal in Changwon in 2007 when he took bronze.
At the Malakasa Shooting Range, he squeezed into the final in sixth position, and was tied for second at the halfway stage. His next 10 shots brought great success - with nine targets struck to beat Croatia's Anton Glasnovic to the podium. A world bronze was now his.
He would follow up by making the final at the ISSF World Cup Final, finishing seventh. There, he was also named the ISSF Athlete of the Year in the People's Choice category.
There were many candidates this season who could have been included: Italian great Giovanni Pellielo who rolled back the years to win an ISSF World Cup gold in Lonato at the age of 55, or Spain's Mar Molne finally having the breakthrough to win the women's world trap title.
Or even Samrat Rana, whose only senior international appearance beforehand was 10th place at the Ningbo ISSF World Cup, who ended China's Hu Kai streak of wins in the men's 10m air pistol at the ISSF World Championship.
But Rana's Indian teammate Zoravar Singh Sandhu gets the nod on this occasion. The 48-year-old, much like Manuel Murcia, has a career dating back to the nineties and heading into Athens had an ISSF World Championship best result of 15th in Barcelona from 1998.
In that 27-year period, Sandhu made the men's trap final at an ISSF World Cup on three occasions, winning his sole individual medal in Changwon in 2007 when he took bronze.
At the Malakasa Shooting Range, he squeezed into the final in sixth position, and was tied for second at the halfway stage. His next 10 shots brought great success - with nine targets struck to beat Croatia's Anton Glasnovic to the podium. A world bronze was now his.
He would follow up by making the final at the ISSF World Cup Final, finishing seventh. There, he was also named the ISSF Athlete of the Year in the People's Choice category.