Chetcuti fourth in Double Trap
Just misses out on Olympics Quota Place
Yesterday's European Championships in Brno, Czech Republic, were another opportunity for William Chetcuti to demonstrate his talents in Double Trap.
He shot two 48s in the morning session and followed that up in the afternoon with a 42 score. Despite joining the top six for the barrage final, Chetcuti was still not good enough to earn the Athens 2004 Quota Place which was at stake in these championships.
The Quota Place is a shooter's ticket to the Olympic Games. Quota Places are generally awarded when an athlete wins a gold medal at the ISSF World Cups or posts a top finish at the World Championships or Continental Championships - Africa, America, Asia, Europe, Oceania - in the last two years before the Olympics.
Chetcuti blasted a 46 in the final. He was close to an Olympics berth but, unfortunately for him, the quota went to the third-placed shooter, just two clays ahead of him.
No Maltese shooter had ever reached a barrage final at this level. Yesterday, Chetcuti accomplished a feat that was previously thought to be unattainable by someone from a small country like ours, with limited resources for professionalism.
Moreover, the result in Brno definitely placed him among the top ten in the world rankings which will be published later on this week by the International Shooting Sport Federation. Before the championships started, Chetcuti was ranked 44th.
Chetcuti will have another go for a Quota Place in next month's World Cup tournaments in Lonato, Italy, and Nicosia, Cyprus.