Alicante to host 2013 IPC Shooting European Championships

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) announced on Monday (4 February) that Spanish city Alicante will host the 2013 IPC Shooting European Championships, taking place from 18-26 October. 04 Feb 2013 By IPC

“We are delighted that Alicante will host the IPC Shooting European Championships. Club Lucetum has an excellent track record for organising competitions to a high standard and have hosted previous IPC Shooting World Cup events in 2009, 2010 and 2011."

Organised by Club Lucentum, the 2013 European Championships will be the first major gathering of international athletes since the London 2012 Paralympic Games, welcoming around 350 athletes from 35 countries.

Xavier Gonzalez, IPC Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are delighted that Alicante will host the IPC Shooting European Championships. Club Lucetum has an excellent track record for organising competitions to a high standard and have hosted previous IPC Shooting World Cup events in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

“They have also invested heavily in the facilities to bring them up to a high standard.”

Between now and Rio 2016, the IPC is planning to develop a comprehensive competition calendar, which will see Alicante also host IPC Shooting World Cup events in 2014 and 2015, with the latter event acting as a Paralympic Games qualifier.

The European Championships will also be the first major international competition to feature new finals formats and decimal scoring (in 10m Air Rifle and 50m Prone Rifle events).

Decimal scoring will enable athletes to potentially add an extra 54 points to their overall qualification score and should prevent ties in the future. IPC Shooting has taken the decision to switch systems as part of its close relationship with the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF).

The new finals will see all athletes start from zero rather than carry over their qualification score. The lowest ranking athletes will be eliminated throughout the final until only the final two athletes are left in a ‘shoot-off’ scenario to fight for first and second place.

Under the IPC Shooting Rules athletes from Africa and Oceania are allowed to take part in the event as they have no regional Championships, although results and medals will be arranged separately to European athletes.

Spanish rifle shooter Juan Antonio Saavedra Reinaldo, who won Spain’s only medal in shooting in London, a silver in the R6-50m Rifle Prone event, will be amongst the medal contenders in Alicante.

The last IPC Shooting European Championships took place in 2007 in Suhl, Germany, with 280 athletes taking part.

For further information, please visit www.ipc-shooting.org.

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