An enormous, star-studded field of 432 shooters from 71 countries is in Al Ain (UAE) for the ISSF Shotgun World Cup that starts Sunday (7th) and continues through the 15th. The finals schedule:
● 08 April: Women’s Trap
● 09 April: Men’s Trap
● 10 April: Mixed Trap
● 14 April: Women’s Skeet
● 15 April: Men’s Skeet
The competition will be at a very high level; just consider the medalists from Rio in 2016 and last year’s World Champs ready to go:
Men/Trap:
● Josip Glasnovic (CRO) ~ 2016 Olympic gold medalist
● Edward Ling (GBR) ~ 2016 Olympic bronze medalist
● Giovanni Pellielo (ITA) ~2016 Olympic silver medalist
● Alberto Fernandez (ESP) ~ 2018 World Champion
● Erik Varga (SVK) ~ 2018 World Championships silver medalist
● Walton Eller (USA) ~ 2008 Olympic gold medalist in Double Trap
Women/Trap:
● Natalie Rooney (NZL) ~ 2016 Olympic silver medalist
● Zuzana Stefecekova (SVK) ~ 2018 World Champion
● Xiaojing Wang (CHN) ~ 2018 World Championships silver medalist
● Silvana Stanco (ITA) ~ 2018 World Championships bronze medalist
Men/Skeet:
● Gabriele Rossetti (ITA) ~ 2016 Olympic gold medalist
● Marcus Svensson (SWE) ~ 2016 Olympic silver medalist
● Abdullah Al-Rashidi (KUW) ~ 2016 bronze medalist
● Erik Watndal (NOR) ~ 2018 World Championships silver medalist
Women/Skeet:
● Diana Bacosi (ITA) ~ 2016 Olympic gold medalist
● Kim Rhode (USA) ~ 2016 Olympic bronze; 2018 Worlds silver; 6x Olympic medalist
● Caitlin Connor (USA) ~ 2018 World Champion
● Amber English (USA) ~ 2018 World Championships bronze medalist
All but one of the winners from last month’s Shotgun World Cup in Acapulco (MEX) are entered: James Willett (AUS) in men’s Trap, Jessica Rossi (ITA) in women’s Trap, and the immortal Rhode of the U.S., who won her 19th career World Cup gold.
The top two place winners in each event (except the Mixed Trap) will obtain an Olympic Quota Place for their country.
The ISSF has excellent coverage on its Web site; look for results here.
