Husband and wife shooting duo Russell and Lauryn Mark will aim for strong finishes in their respective events as they contest the Fiocchi Grand Prix in Maribor, Slovenia this weekend (July 1-4).
 
The Fiocchi GP is being used as a warm up event by many international shooters for the next leg of the World Cup circuit, which will be held on the same range in Maribor from July 7-16.
 
Russell Mark, who climbed to number 10 in the world in the men’s double trap in June’s rankings, will be looking for a repeat performance of his last trip to Europe, where he shot an impressive 144 and 48 in the final to finish in second place at the GP event in Belgrade, Serbia.
 
The 47-year-old 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games gold medallist said the event would give him some good practice ahead of the World Cup.
 
"Slovenia is a great ground to train on, but can be quite windy which makes it a very good ground to train on,” Mark said. “There are lots of teams here training at the moment so the quality of the field for the Fiocchi Grand Prix will be very good.
 
“I have a new stock on my gun this week which I will use in a competition for the first time on Friday and then of course I will make the decision whether to keep it on for the World Cup.”
 
Mark, who along with Australia’s other double trap shooters, is still chasing a quota place for Australia for the 2012 London Olympic Games has three opportunities remaining – the Slovenia World Cup, the 2011 ISSF World Championships in Belgrade, Serbia (September 5-13) and the Oceania Championships in Sydney (November 26 – December 1).
 
Lauryn Mark meanwhile has made fast inroads back into women’s skeet since fully committing in her bid to make the 2012 London Olympic Games.
 
The 31-year-old finished ninth at the World Cup leg in Sydney in March to qualify a quota for Australia in the women’s skeet at next year’s Olympics and has continued her good run of form recently.
 
Mark said she was looking forward to the two competitions.
 
“It is great to get the chance to shoot on the ground prior to the World Cup,” Mark said. “I have been shooting all of the European competitions based on the minimum time required which means that often we are competing still tired from jet lag and shooting on ranges that are still a little unfamiliar.
 
“With 10 days to adjust to the European time and conditions and a great amount of time to train both on and off the field I can’t see how that won’t be an advantage.”

The Marks will be joined by the remainder of the Australian team early next week as preparations are finalised for the start of the World Cup on July 7.

Australian International Shooting Limited