SHOOTING: Amazing Rhode wins again in Acapulco World Cup

Six-time Olympic medalist Kim Rhode (USA)

If you’re looking for the Fountain of Youth, you might want to ask American shooting star Kim Rhode.

Now 39, she recorded her 19th World Cup victory – plus three World Cup Finals in an international career that started back in 1995 – at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Acapulco (MEX).

Rhode, who has won six Olympic medals in the last six Olympic Games, defeated New Zealand’s Chloe Tipple in the final of the women’s Trap event, 57-48. Rhode hit her first 23 targets to Tipple’s 22. Rhode missed one, then found the next 31 in a row while Tipple missed 11 times in that span.

And Rhode shows no signs of slowing down; in fact, she has said she is considering also making a run at the U.S. team in women’s Trap for Tokyo? (Not committed, just considering.)

In Trap, Australia’s James Willett shot a perfect 125-for-125 in the qualifying round and – of course – equaled the world record. In the final, he hit 14 of his first 16 targets, but then reeled off 33 in a row before missing his last shot for a winning total of 47. Egypt’s Ahmed Zaher was second with 43. It was Willett’s fourth career World Cup victory.

Italy’s Jessica Rossi, the 2012 Olympic Champion, won her third career World Cup with a 45-43 win over Laetisha Scanlan (AUS). Rossi led with 22/25 targets, with Scanlan only one behind, but Rossi missed only two in the remaining 25 targets and Scanlan missed three times.

Willett and Scanlan teamed up for the Mixed Trap gold, just three shots ahead of the American pair of Kayle Browning and Brian Burrows. The Shotgun World Cup will conclude with the men’s Skeet final on Monday. Summaries so far:

ISSF Shotgun World Cup
New Delhi (IND) ~ 15-26 March 2019
(Full results here)

Men

Trap: 1. James Willett (AUS), 47; 2. Ahmed Zaher (EGY), 43; 3. Haicheng Yu (CHN), 35; 4. Nathan Hales (GBR), 30; 5. Massimo Fabbrizi (ITA), 24.

Women

Trap: 1. Jessica Rossi (ITA), 45; 2. Laetisha Scanlan (AUS), 43; 3. Weiyun Deng (CHN), 32; 4. Melanie Couzy (FRA), 27; 5. Satu Makela-Nummela (FIN), 21.

Skeet: 1. Kim Rhode (USA), 57; 2. Chloe Tipple (NZL), 48; 3. Donglian Zhang (CHN), 42; 4. Heng Zheng (CHN), 32; 5. Samantha Simonton (USA), 25.

Mixed

Trap: 1. Laetisha Scanlan/James Willett (AUS), 46; 2. Kayle Browning/Brian Burrows (USA), 43; 3. Kirsty Barr/Matthew John Coward-Holley (GBR), 34; 4. Penny Smith/Giovanni Pellielo (ITA), 25.