Sablone claims Italy’s second consecutive men’s Skeet gold
USA top medal standings
ACAPULCO, Mexico, March 27: The second ISSF competition of the 2017 season closed today at the Club de Caza, tiro y Pesca de Acapulco, where the Skeet Men event awarded its medals to Italy, United States and Australia.
In his second overall participation in an ISSF World Cup stage, Italian shooter Marco Sablone (28) clinched the gold medal with an outstanding performance, pulverizing the 80th place he nailed in his only previous participation, which dates back to Beijing (CHN) in 2011.
It is Italy’s second consecutive World Cup gold in this event, after Riccardo Filippelli climbed atop the podium at the first stage of the season in New Delhi (IND).
Sablone led the match since the early stages, as he missed only one of his first 33 targets and built a comfortable gab on his closest opponent: United States’ 29-year-old Frank Thompson. Sablone kept shooting consistently all along the match, maintaining Thompson at a safe distance while the other shooters were battling to avoid elimination.
On the last station, unfortunately, the Italian athlete missed the chance to equal the World Record set by his teammate Filippelli in India, missing the last 2 clays of his final and concluding with 55 target hits.
Thompson finished the match with 53 hits and the silver medal around his neck, besting his previous best placement in a World Cup: 5th in three different stages between 2008 and 2014. The men’s Skeet bronze secured in Acapulco is Thompson’s first career World Cup medal.
The bronze medal was delivered to Australia’s 24-year-old Paul Adams, who crushed 43 clays and placed 3rd for the second consecutive time, after pocketing the bronze at the first stage of the 2017 ISSF World Cup Series in New Delhi.
Germany’s 22-year-old Felix Haase, placed just outside of the podium, crushing 33 targets and missing the medal in his first final participation in an ISSF World Cup.
Competing for the first time on the international shooting sport scene, Wan Antao (32) of the People’s Republic of China finished in 5th place with 25 hits out of 30 targets. Previously, he emerged form a six-way shoot-off to grab the only spot remaining in the final.
The Mexican 21-year-old Carlos Segovia Gonzalez from Monterrey was the first to leave the match after 20 targets. After qualifying with the second highest score, Segovia Gonzalez singed his first World Cup participation with a 6th place and 15 target hits.
Just like two years ago, when they pocketed four of the five gold medals up for grabs, the United States of America finished atop the medal standings in Acapulco, where the second ISSF World Cup stage of the 2017 season just concluded.
Ashley Carroll and Kimberly Rhode were the two shooters who made the American national anthem resound at the Club de Caza, Tiro y Pesca de Acapulco, respectively pocketing the women’s Trap and Skeet gold medal.
For 22-year-old Carroll it’s the first career World Cup medal, while for 37-year-old Rhode the count says 26. The one she pocketed in Acapulco is the 10th gold of her career in the Skeet Women.
Only one of the five World Records set in New Delhi has been bested, and both Ashley Carroll and New Zealand’s Natalie Rooney set the new one in the Trap Women event, where they crushed 42 out of 50 targets in the final.