Australia’s Jason Maroney came second, really challenging Anderson right to the end.

After a tense final, where the lead changed several times, Denmark’s Jonny Andersen won the R4 - 10m - 60 shots air rifle standing SH2 with a new world record score of 207.7 at the 2013 IPC Shooting World Cup (Szczecin) in Poland.

Andersen had the fourth highest qualification score going into the finals, but under new rules, the athletes go into the finals with a zero score, allowing for a much closer competition.

Australia’s Jason Maroney came second, really challenging Anderson right to the end. He finished 0.4 points behind with a final score of 207.4.

Slovenia’s Francek Gorazd Tirsek, who had the highest qualification score, came third with 185.4 points.

In the team event, Slovenia’s team of Damjan Pavlin, Veselka Pevec and Francek Gorazd Tirsek had the highest score of 1883.0. Great Britain (Richard Davies, Adam Fountain and Rober McLeary) finished second on 1867.6 points. Third place went to Ukraine’s team of Vladyslav Biletskiy, Vasyl Kovalchuk, and Pavlo Volynets.

The competition continues on Friday (19 April) with the R5 event.

“It was great to see that one of our youngest and smallest NPCs, Montenegro taking the initiative to have this meeting and they have shown their organising capabilities and their great hospitality.”

Representatives from six Balkan National Paralympic Committees met in Podgorica, Montenegro, from 5-7 April for a regional workshop, facilitated by PlayAble and supported by the IPC.

The workshop was a first step towards enabling the NPCs in the Balkan Region to further develop their organisation and athlete performances through regional collaboration.

“It was great to see that one of our youngest and smallest NPCs, Montenegro taking the initiative to have this meeting and they have shown their organising capabilities and their great hospitality,” said IPC Governing Board member Rita van Driel.

“From the beginning the participants made it clear that it was good to meet and to talk, but that they really wanted to take actions.”

After two days of discussions, the NPCs of Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, Romania and Slovenia decided to focus on two objectives.

The first was to improve coaching expertise in athletics, swimming, table tennis, wheelchair basketball, shooting and goalball by organising sport-specific clinics.

The second was to improve the performance of athletes under 25 in the same sports by organising sport-specific camps along with the coaching clinics.

“After the very positive work I would like to thank everyone for sharing good experiences, knowledge and the will to work together for the better development of Paralympic sport in our region,” said Ilia Lalov, President NPC Bulgaria.

Each NPC went back home with the task of hosting a camp in the sport where they have some expertise and accessible accommodation to host it.

The first camp for wheelchair basketball will be hosted by NPC Romania in Cluj in July.

“It was very good to share thoughts and experience and I’m very satisfied that we have concrete steps now,” said Mustafa Demir, President of NPC Bosnia & Herzogovina

The 2nd edition of the IPC European Para Snow Sport Youth Circuit gathered together around 50 youngsters with an impairement from five different countries. © • IPC IPC European Para Snow Sport Youth Circuit © • IPC

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The primary object of the initiative is to introduce youngsters to winter sports and to provide professional training to already skilled youngsters on their way to a first competition.

The second stop on the IPC European Para Snow Sport Youth Circuit drew nearly 50 youngsters with an impairment from five different countries to the slopes of Rogla, Slovenia.

The IPC European Para Snow Sport Youth Circuit, funded by the European Union, consists of five competition camps in alpine skiing, nordic skiing and snowboarding for youngsters with an impairment.

The event in Rogla, which ran from 28 March - 1 April, included two days of training and one day of competition, as four different disciplines were contested on the men’s side and two on the women’s side.

The men’s giant slalom standing competition was the most populated event, and it was won by Spain’s Pol Aguilar Diaz in a time of 1:07.95, closely followed by his compatriot, Alberto Avila, in 1:13.60.

Germany’s Bjoern Behnke won the men’s giant slalom sitting in 1:05.04. The Netherlands’ Niels de Langen came second in 1:07.24 and Germany’s Gabriel Scheib finished third in 1:17.13.

Marcel Sole of Spain was victorious in the men’s giant slalom visually impaired category in a time of 1:06.19, followed by Slovakia’s Luka Keber in 1:15.89.

Spain’s Barbara Perez finished first in the women’s giant slalom standing in 1:09.02, while the Netherlands’ Kim Monsieur came second in 1:09.44 and Germany’s Anngret Schneider came third in 1:13.20.

In the women’s giant slalom sitting event, Germany’s Pauline Schramm took first place in 1:23.86.

A media workshop for the athletes was held in conjunction with the event, as well as a sports psychology seminar for coaches.

Organised by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) with funding from the European Union, Atos and the Foundation for Global Sports Development, athletes ages 10-17 are learning and practicing the skills required to take part in alpine skiing, nordic skiing and snowboard.

The primary object of the initiative is to introduce youngsters to winter sports and to provide professional training to already skilled youngsters on their way to a first competition.

The event in Rogla, supported by the IPC’s Agitos Foundation, is part of an 18-month circuit that began in La Molina, Spain in January and will continue through March 2014.

For complete results from the IPC European Para Snow Sport Youth Circuit and a schedule of events, please visit www.youth-snow-circuit.eu.

IPC European Para Snow Sport Youth Circuit © • IPC

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“The IPC European Para Snow Sport Youth Circuit will play a major role in developing the next generation of winter snow sport athletes."

The second event of the IPC European Para Snow Sport Youth Circuit will begin on Thursday (28 March), as more than 50 youngsters with an impairment from five countries participate in two days of training and one competition day in Rogla, Slovenia.

Organised by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) with funding from the European Union, Atos and the Foundation for Global Sports Development, athletes ages 10-17 will learn and practice the skills required to take part in alpine skiing, nordic skiing and snowboard.

The event in Rogla is part of an 18-month circuit that began in La Molina, Spain in January on the same slopes that hosted the 2013 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships.

The results from the first event will carry over and the points earned in Rogla will count toward the overall circuit total for the athletes. The circuit has already grown with the addition of one snow sport athlete from Slovenia’s neighbouring country, Croatia, set to participate this time around.

The youngsters will also take part in a media workshop and receive media training in Rogla, and there will be a coaches seminar held based around sports psychology.

The circuit is being supported by the IPC’s Agitos Foundation and Palkinto Tukku is providing medals free of charge for the athletes.

IPC Chief Operating Officer Georg Schlachtenberger said: “The IPC European Para Snow Sport Youth Circuit will play a major role in developing the next generation of winter snow sport athletes.

“Not only will the youngsters have the chance to race on the same slopes that have been used for able-bodied elite competitions, but they will also be given the opportunity to partake in sport, education and media workshops.

“Having the support of the Foundation for Global Sports Development for the circuit also marks a milestone in our partnership to develop young para-athletes worldwide.”

Later this year, Landgraaf, the Netherlands will stage the next event from 17-21 November.

In 2014, the fourth camp of the circuit will be held in Germany’s Ski Area Gotschen in Bischofwiesen and the fifth and final camp of the European Para Snow Sport Youth Circuit will be staged in Sestriere, Italy, the resort which staged the 2011 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships.

Throughout the circuit, which also involves the European Paralympic Committee, results and rankings from each event will be published at www.youth-snow-circuit.eu, the website of the IPC European Para Snow Sport Youth Circuit.

The full schedule for the IPC European Para Snow Sport Youth Circuit is as follows:

- 27-31 January 2013: La Molina, Spain

- 28 March – 1 April 2013: Rogla, Slovenia

- 17-21 November 2013: Landgraaf, the Netherlands TBC

- 5-9 January 2014: Ski Area Gotschen in Bischofwiesen, Germany TBC

- 23-27 March 2014: Sestriere, Italy TBC