Beijing Olympic Games

Updated锛?008-06-09

The Olympic Champion of Sydney 2000, Richard Faulds of Great Britain, 31, won the double trap final at the ISSF World Cup in Suhl, Germany, after entering the round with an equalled world record of 147 hits. The British shooter, two times World Champion and World Cup multi-medallist, had never won a Gold medal after that victorious Olympic final. He competed in the final round of the first world cup of the year, in Beijing, where he placed in fourth after a tough shoot-off, and won a Silver medal at the second stage of the 2008 ISSF World Cup Series in Kerrville, USA. “We are all looking forward to the Games, these world cups are our preparation for the Olympics 鈥?said Faulds yesterday 鈥?it is very important to peak in the right moment.”

Faulds entered today’s match with an outstanding qualification score of 147 targets, equalling for the first time the world record set by Michael Diamond at the World Championships of Barcelona 1998 that resisted over ten years. The British shooter shot then a final score of 46 targets, totalizing 193 hits (147 46), only one target shy of equalling the 194-hit final world record. Faulds had to fight to maintain his leadership: the number two in the world Hu Binyuan of China, 30, starting only two targets behind him, tried to catch him up right to the end. The Chinese shooter eventually finished in second, winning Silver with a total score of 192 hits (145 47).

Bronze went to Roland Gerebics, 28, from Hungary, who closed the match in third place with 189 targets (144 45). The Hungarian athlete, Junior Silver medallist of the World Championships of Tampere 1999 and Barcelona 1998, had won his last ISSF medal seven years ago, at the 2001 World Cup in Nicosia. He duelled against the current world’s number one in this event, the American shooter Walton Eller, 26, who closed in fourth place with 187 targets preceding the 27-year old Rashid Al-Athba, fifth. The 2001 World Champion, the Kuwaiti shooter Hamad Alafasi, 35, passed through a successful qualification entering the final with 144 targets, finishing then the competition in sixth with 183 clays.

(Credit: ISSF. Click here for further information.)