Lonato 2018: Four talking points

Italian city makes history with first Para trap World Championships 17 Oct 2018 By World Shooting Para Sport

The first Para Trap world champions were crowned in Lonato del Garda this month with shooters from 16 countries competing in the Italian city.

Here is a look back at two historical days (5-6 October) in Northern Italy:

Trap success

When four friends founded the Trap range in Lonato 36 years ago they could barely imagine that the venue would become one of the largest shotgun facilities in the world.

Now it is also part of the history of shooting Para sport following the two-day World Championships that saw Australia's Scottie Brydon, Finland's Vesa Jarvinen and Italy's Francesco Nespeca crowned world champions.

Nail-biting finish

Jarvinen in the PT2 (mixed trap standing SG-L) and Nespeca in the PT3 (mixed trap standing SG-U) took their gold medals in the last shots.

For Nespeca, it was even more special as he had to settle for silver in the first Lonato World Cup last year. This time, he finished with 38 targets against 37 from Spain’s Meliton Antonio Brinas who had beaten him in 2017.

Home advantage

Italy topped the standings with five medals and was the only country to have shooters on the podium in all three classes.

The PT2 (mixed trap standing SG-L) saw Saverio Cuciti finish with silver and Raffaele Talamo with bronze. Oreste Lai took silver in the PT1 - mixed trap seated SG-S) and Paolo Bortolin was bronze in the PT3 (mixed trap standing SG-U) won by his compatrior Nespeca.

More shooters, more nations

When Lonato hosted the first Para trap World Cup in 2017 there were 47 shooters from 12 countries. One year later, the first World Championships saw 57 athletes from 16 nations competing.

Now Para trap is part of the programme in the most important World Shooting Para Sport event and this is just the beginning.

Full results from Lonato are available on World Shooting Para Sport's website.