It was another memorable day for Malta’s clay shooting sport after Gianluca Chetcuti and William Chetcuti step on the top two steps of the podium in the double trap competition at the Budva Shooting Ranges.
Gianluca Chetcuti’s triumph handed Team Malta their fourth gold medal of the Games so far.
The Maltese shooters were a class above their rivals as they held the top two positions throughout the whole five rounds of the 150-clay competition.
For Malta this result has further rubberstamped their superiority in this discipline as it is the third time in GSSE history that Malta clinched a gold and silver double in this competition.
The other two occasions were in San Marino 2001 when Philip Busuttil finished ahead of William Chetcuti while four years later it was William Chetcuti who took gold ahead Emanuel Grima.
Gianluca Chetcuti, the defending gold medallist after his triumph in San Marino two years ago, was in complete control for much of the opening four rounds of 30 clays when compiling scores of 28, 26, 25 and 28 to surge to a five-point lead at the top on 107.
William Chetcuti was five behind with one round to after hitting scores of 25, 27, 25 and 27 for 102. He also had to fend off the challenge of San Marino’s Gian Marco Berti who was just one behind.
In the final, William Chetcuti tried to step up the pressure on his rivals when hitting his best score of the day, 28, to go top on 130.
That left Gianluca Chetcuti needing just 24 to secure victory but the young shooter seemed to loose his mental calmness as he started to miss consistently leaving him needing one pair from the last four clays to leapfrong his team-mate and he did that on the first time of asking to secure his second successive gold medal.
Gianluca Chetcuti finished with 132, two clear of William Chetcuti with San Marino’s Berti taking bronze after a shoot-off with Leontios Leontiou.
“I’m really delighted to have succeeded in retaining the title that I have won two years ago in San Marino,” Gianluca Chetcuti, who thanked SportMalta, the Maltese Olympic Committee and the Malta Shooting Sport Federation for their continuous support, told the Times of Malta.
“I’m quite happy with performance in the first four rounds where I managed to shoot with great consistency. In the final round, nerves started to creep in as, contrary to other occasions, I knew what I needed to win gold and that affected my performance. But luckily, I recovered my composure when it mattered most and completed the job.
“I am pleased that William Chetcuti took silver as its important for our sport that we keep our country always at the top.”
On his part, William Chetcuti said that he was pleased to be back on the podium in a GSSE after his disappointment in San Marino two years ago when he missed out on a medal.
“I am very happy with this meda,” said William Chetcuti, who has now five medals in double trap at GSSE level, three gold and two silver.
“I came into the competition not knowing where my level was I haven’t been training much double trap in the last 18 months. But I felt good and with each round that passed I was growing in confidence and I’m just pleased to be returning home with two silver medals.
“I am delighted for Gianluca that he won the gold medal as we have a great relationship. My goal is always to win every competition but when I can’t make it I always hope that another Maltese shooter can make it as it’s always a great boost for Maltese sport.”
Air rifle
William Vella was in action in the air rifle competition at the Markovici indoor shooting range in Budva.
The Maltese shooter had made it to the final when he hit a score of 593.7 to finish eighth from 11 shooters. In the final, however, he failed to challenge for a medal and he finished eighth with a score of 113.1.
The gold medal went to Montenegro’s Milos Bozovic who hit 240.1 points. Andreas Charalambous, of Cyprus, was second on 238.8 while Nemanja Obradovic, of Montenegro, placed third in 217.1.