SHOOTING: Chemical Engineering student Catherine Skinner (East Melbourne, VIC) has come away with the bronze medal after a nail-biting semi-final at the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF) World Cup Final in Gabala, Azerbaijan, yesterday.

Skinner qualified for the semi-final with 72 targets, while fellow Aussie Laetisha Scanlan (Berwick, VIC) missed a berth by a single target, finishing her World Cup Final campaign on 71.

At the semi-final stage, Skinner shot 13 out of a possible 15 targets, to then shoot-off against two other competitors for a spot in the gold-medal match.

She missed her last target, which meant that she had to fight for the bronze against San Marino’s Alessandra Perilli. Skinner remained confident and displayed her composure as she secured the bronze medal with 13 targets to Perilli’s 11.

Skinner spoke to Shooting Australia soon after the Finals, clearly exuberant over her bronze medal performance.

“I felt pretty great about my bronze, as it was a tough fight to get anywhere. I'm a bit annoyed at myself for missing the last target in the semi-final, but it did fire me up for the bronze match,” Skinner said.

“It was actually a bit funny when I realised that last year I had won two silvers, and this is my third bronze this year; so hopefully next year I will win gold.

“It was a tough day with such high scores across the field, making it very cut throat. If anything, it's testament to the competitors. The best of the world were here and they shot scores that reflected that.”

National High Performance Shotgun Coach Valeriy Timokhin said that the improvement from last year was a sign of hope.

“Catherine shot a good result (72), and after the semi-final won the shoot-off to continue her fight for a medal,” Timokhin said.

“At last year’s ISSF World Cup Final, Catherine didn’t qualify for the semi-final, so it is clear to see the improvement she has achieved in this year, which give us hope for the future. Laetisha also shot well (71) and was really fighting at the qualification stage.

“The shotgun team would like to wish Warren the best of luck in his event!”

2014 World Champion Warren Potent (Currans Hill, NSW) will compete in the 50m Rifle Prone event on Monday 27 October 2014. Potent will be chasing his fourth World Cup Final medal, confidently going into the match, after recently having reclaimed his World Number One ranking.

Shooting Australia