Pace one clay behind leader Amici after three rounds

Trap shooter Frans Pace yesterday stayed on course to improve on his second placing in the GSSE Malta 2003 competition after missing only two clays on the opening qualifying day at the La Rabassa ranges.

Three rounds of 25 clays each were shot yesterday and Pace was in superb form to finish the day in second place on 73, one point behind 2003 Trap competition winner Francesco Amici, of San Marino.

Pace hit a straight in the first round before notching two 24s. The contest for positions ahead of the barrage final today is indeed a tight one with two other shooters - Phidias Savvides, of Cyprus, and Armand Dousemont, of Luxembourg, also hitting 73 clays. Dousemont finished fourth overall in Malta after losing a shoot-off with George Landos, of Cyprus.

Amici made an impressive comeback at the Bidnija ranges in 2003 to finish the barrage final with 141 hits, one better off than Pace. It was his second successive GSSE Trap title after winning the competition in San Marino in 2001. Yesterday, he targetted two straights.

The other Maltese competitor in the Trap competition, Joe Attard, is currently languishing a bit further back. Yesterday, he had rounds of 23, 22 and 24 to finish on 69 clays.

Attard will be looking to improve on his position in today's opening two rounds of the qualifying phase before the final. At present, he is only one clay away from sixth place which could mean a place in the barrage. However, Attard will have to attain higher scores than the opening three rounds, and hope the others just ahead of him in the provisional standings will score less points in order to reach his goal.

Provisional standings (after three rounds of 25)

1. F. Amici (San Marino) 74; 2. F. Pace (Malta) 73; 2. P. Savvides (Cyprus) 73; 2. A. Dousemont (Luxembourg) 73; 5. A. Tomassoni (San Marino) 72; 6. Y. Ailiotis (Cyprus) 70; 7. J.T. Roca (Andorra) 70; 8. J. Attard (Malta) 69; 8. D. Dandreis (Monaco) 69; 10. J. Coma Zamboni (Andorra) 62.