Rooney misses medal

I’ve made four of the last five finals, which is a pretty good effort. Natalie Rooney

Timaru trap shooter Natalie Rooney has finished in fifth place in the third round of the International Shooting Sport Federation shotgun World Cup in Cyprus.

The fifth place finish was enough for Rooney to retain her No.1 status in the world rankings as her nearest rivals finished behind her.

The 28-year-old said she was really happy to make the final (consisting of six shooters).

‘‘I won the shoot-off, as seven of us finished on on the same score and there was only room for three. I shot really well to get there.’’

Rooney’s consistency is one of the big factors in her rise to world No.1.

‘‘I’ve made four of the last five finals, which is a pretty good effort.’’

A total of 54 shooters started in the women’s trap at Larnaka.

Rooney admitted she started the event a bit roughly on the first 15 targets, before nailing the next 10 in a row.

‘‘It took a while to adjust to the conditions as the light changed just before I went on and I didn’t settle at the start.’’

Chinese shooter Wang Xiaojing set a new world record of 45 hits out of 50 targets to win gold.

After qualifying for the final with 71 hits, Xiaojing had a rough start into the match, missing two targets out of the first three.

But as the light changed through the round, her opponents started missing, while she zeroed in scoring one target after the other, climbing up the scoreboard.

Lebanon’s Ray Bassil settled for silver with 42 hits while San Marino’s Alessandra Perilli took bronze. Bassil could move up from 10th spot while Perrill may also improve from seventh but not enough to threaten Rooney.

Wang, 24, could be one Rooney has to watch in the future.

She scored the world record at her only second appearance in an ISSF World Cup, having made her debut in New Delhi, finishing in fifth place. The shooters will faceoff again at the ISSF world championships in Moscow at the beginning of September.