Champions Mehelba and Bacosi among eight to qualify for Paris skeet competition

Egypt's Azmy Mehelba and Italy's Diana Bacosi are the new world champions in Skeet after victory at the 2022 World Championships (Shotgun) in Osijek, Croatia.

The top four athletes in both Men's and Women's Skeet would earn a spot at Paris 2024, with a number of stipulations. Athletes that had already qualified a place for their country could not earn a place, and only one athlete per country could earn a place at the Games at this event. Countries that qualify in both genders also get a place in the mixed team event.

126 athletes entered the men's competition, with all eligible for qualification apart from the Czech Republic's Jakub Tomeček, who already qualified a place at the European Championships (Shotgun) in Larnaca, Cyprus. All would enter qualifying, and the top eight after 125 shots would go through. Sweden's Stefan Nilsson led the way with a perfect 125, while Christian Elliott of the United States was in second with 124. There was a three-way tie for third, with France's Eric Delaunay, the USA's Vincent Hancock and the Czech Republic's Radek Prokop all on 123. This was resolved by shoot-off, with Hancock beating Delaunay by 32-31, with Prokop on six. There was also a three-way tie for sixth, with Qatar's Rashid Saleh al-Athba, Mehelba, and Italy's Gabriele Rossetti all on 122 hits. Mehelba beat Rossetti in the shoot-off 22-21, with al-Athba getting no hits and coming eighth.

Next came the ranking matches, where the eight finalists would be split into two groups of four. After twenty shots, fourth would be removed, and then after thirty, the top two advanced to the medal match. Hancock, Nilsson, Prokop and Rossetti. After twenty shots, Hancock led on eighteen, with Nilsson, Prokop and Rossetti all on seventeen; the Italian was eliminated due to having the worst qualification score. Of the next eight shots, Hancock and Prokop hit all eight while Nilsson hit seven: Hancock led with twenty-six, Prokop was on twenty-five, and Nilsson twenty-four. But Prokop missed both his final shots to see a place in the medal match slip away as Nilsson hit both of his: it was Hancock (twenty-seven) and Nilson (twenty-six) that qualified, ahead of Prokop on twenty-five. In the other match, al-Athba, Delaunay, Elliott, and Mehelba were the ones to enter. After twenty shots, al-Athba and Mehelba led on nineteen, with Elliott on eighteen and Delaunay eliminated on seventeen. All three hit nine of their next ten, meaning Mehelba and al-Athba went through on twenty-eight ahead of Elliott on twenty-seven.

Therefore, it was al-Athba, Hancock, Mehelba, and Nilsson that entered the medal match. After twenty shots, fourth place would be eliminated; after thirty, third place would, and after forty we would have a winner. At the twenty-shot mark, both Hancock and Mehelba had hit a perfect twenty, with al-Athba on nineteen and Nilsson eliminated on seventeen. In the next ten shots, Mehelba extended his perfect run to gain the lead as both al-Athba and Hancock missed one, the Qatari being elimianted on twenty-eight. Therefore, with ten shots to go, Mehelba led Hancock 30-29. Both hit their first six shots perfectly, with one final round of four each to go. Mehelba stepped up first, and hit another perfect four, meaning Hancock could no longer catch him. A Golden Hit was declared and the Egyptian was world champion. Therefore, the quotas go to Egypt, the United States, Qatar, and Sweden. The other quotas earned so far have been to hosts France and for Italy and the Czech Republic in Larnaca.

On the women's side, sixty-three athletes entered, all of whom were eligible for qualification bar Great Britain's Amber Hill and Germany's Nadine Messerschmidt after their successful performance in Larnaca. In qualification, it was Hill that led with 123 hits, with a three-way tie for second as France's Lucie Anastassiou, Vanesa Hockova of Slovakia, and the USA's Austen Jewell Smith on 122. Hockova beat Smith 4-3 in the shoot-off, with Anastassiou getting one hit. There was a two-way tie for fifth, with Bacosi and American Samantha Simonton both on 121; the latter taking the shoot-off 4-3. Slovakian Danka Bartekova came seventh on 120, while the eighth and final spot went to a shoot-off with both Thailand's Isarapa Imprasertsuk and Ukraine's Iryna Malovichko on 119, the Ukrainian taking in 4-3.

Onto the ranking matches, with the first being populated by Bartekova, Hill, Simonton, and Smith. After twenty shots, Simonton led with eighteen, with Hill on seventeen and both Smith and Bartekova on sixteen, the Slovakian eliminated due to her inferior qualifying performance: she missed her decisive final shot. However, Smith could not take advantage of this lifeline: with Hill and Simonton both qualifying on twenty-seven shots, she ended on twenty-four and was eliminated. In the other ranking match, Anastassiou, Bacosi, Hockova and Malovichko. After twenty shots, Bacosi led with nineteen, with Hockova on eighteen, Malovichko on seventeen and Anastassiou eliminated on sixteen after missing her final shot. Bacosi maintained her lead to qualify with twenty-eight shots, as Hockova joined her on twenty-seven and Malovichko was eliminated on twenty-five.

Thus, in the final it was Bacosi, Hill, Hockova and Simonton that met. After twenty shots, Bacosi was way in the lead with nineteen hits, leading Hill and Simonton on seventeen; Hockova was eliminated on fifteen. While Bacosi extended her lead, in the next six shots Hill had missed one and Simonton had hit a perfect six, but the American then missed three of her final four while Hill hit all four to soldier on, Simonton eliminated with a final total on twenty-four. But Bacosi did not miss again and her victory was made certain when she hit her 37th target (out of thirty-eight) to extend her lead to six with only four shots left for Hill: a Golden Hit was declared. The quotas would have gone to Italy, Great Britain, the United States, and Slovakia. However, as Hill already qualified in Larnaca, her quota was re-allocated to fifth-placed Malovichko, who was the highest scoring in the Ranking Matches not to qualify. Therefore, the quotas go to Italy, the United States, Slovakia, and Ukraine, who join hosts France as well as Great Britain and Germany in this event. This also means that the United States and Italy have qualified an athlete in both genders, so they will enter the mixed team competition, joining hosts France.

The next chance to see shooting qualifiers for the Games will be the World Championships (Rifle and Pistol) in Cairo, Egypt, from 12-25 October. The next chance for athletes to qualify in the skeet event will be at the 2022 CAT XIII Championship in Lima, Peru, from 4-14 November.

Patrick Green

Writer, Totallympics News