Todays update from the Irish Team in Athens sees the 10m Air Rifle (Women) event completed and the Olympic Trap event half-way finished. 10m Air Rifle (Women)
Rhona Barry shot yesterday in qualifying, and put in a 96, 98, 95, 93 for a total of 382. This sadly puts her down at the bottom end of the field, with Austrian Monika Haselberger equalling the world record of 400 to go into the finals with a lead of two points.
However, the closest final in many years saw her lose first place to Russian shooter Tatiana Goldobina by 0.4 of a point in the last two shots of the final!
Olympic Trap
Irish shooter Derek Burnett (who will represent Ireland in the Olympics in Athens) and David Malone (who won a gold medal in Cairo last week at the world cup) both went into today's second round of qualifiers only 6 clays off of the Russian shooter Alipov who was in the lead in the qualifying rounds following a shoot held with gale force winds on the range, with 72 targets (ex 75). Olympic champion Michael Diamond was only 3 ahead of Derek on 69 and Ian Peel (Silver medal in the Sydney Olympics) one ahead on 66. So still all to play for with two sessions in the qualifying left to go.
Philip Murphy, Paddy Coyle and Tom Allen were still in the running, with Philip on 64, and Tom and Paddy on 60.
However, the winds were no kinder today than yesterday, and the performances suffered as a result. Derek Burnett finished strongest of the Irish team with a total score of 112, taking 12th place overall, while David Malone will be dissapointed with his final score of 107 after his recent medal win in Cairo. But Russian shooter Alexei Alipov was the shooter who overcame the conditions with 143, and Michael Diamond in 2nd with 141.
Men's Trap Results
Derek Burnett 21 23 22 23 23 (112)
Dave Malone 23 21 22 17 24 (107)
Philip Murphy 23 22 19 21 19 (104)
Tom Allen (MQS) 19 20 21 21 22 (103)
Paddy Coyle (MQS) 19 19 22 19 20 (99)
We know they're not in the NTSA, but they're Irish olympic shooters the same as ourselves, so well done lads! And don't forget to follow the dedicated Trap coverage on Target.ie