ISSF officials praise host of World Cup shotgun tournament

Technical delegate of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Keith Murray and ISSF Vice President Luciano Rossi have spoken in a positive key about the level and scale of preparation Minsk-based Sporting Club resorted to to host the World Cup Shotgun finals. The SportingClub adopted a very professional approach to preparing the facilities for the shooting events. Everything was well-planned and well-arranged. The people in Minsk seem to know what they are doing,” ISSF Technical Delegate Keith Murray said in an interview with Interfax-West. At the same time, Mr Murray pointed out that there are a few recommendations the ISSF would like the SportingClub’s organizing committee to follow in preparation for a stage of the World Cup due in Minsk in June 2009. “However, that has nothing to do with the technicalities – in that respect everything is top notch. It is rather a matter of scale: the World Cup final saw some 60 shooters participating, but next June’s WC stage will see ten times as many participants. That should be taken into account,” Mr Murray said. “Everything was fine in the course of the World Cup events in Minsk – all but the weather. It was fairly cold. However, the shooters said to me a lot of good things about the facilities and tournament preparations,” Mr Murray said. The technical delegate said he would agree to the point of view of ISSF Vice President Medhat Vahdan, who would say on different occasions that the Sporting Club in Minsk is one of Europe’s best shooting sport centres. The ISSF Vice President, President of Italy’s Shooting Sport Federation Luciano Rossi also spoke in an appreciating tone about the level of preparations for the World Cup. “The final stage of the World Cup this year has been held at the highest level and I am happy that next year’s finals will be hosted by this wonderful place. I believe it will be held just the same as this year. Special thanks for this event goes to my friend – President of the Belarusian Clay Target Shooting Federation Andrei Geraschenko,” Mr Rossi said.   The final stage of the World Cup in shotgun was held at the SportingClub of Minsk September 25 through 30. The shooting events were organized by the Belarusian Clay Target Shooting Federation. WC Holders List: Hakan Dahlbi (double trap, Sweden), Irina Laricheva (trap, Russia), Andri ELEFTHERIOU (skeet, Cyprus), Giovanni Pellielo (trap, Italy), Tore Brovold (skeet, Norway). The tournament hosted 58 shooters from 18 states.