83 countries gather for shooting championships

A RECORD-BREAKING 83 countries are taking part in the ISSF World Shooting Championships in Nicosia.

The event, which is taking place at the Olympic Shooting Centre in Nicosia, is running from September 1-10 and was opened by President Tassos Papadopoulos on Sunday night.

The World Shooting Championships is the biggest annual event organised by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) and this is the third time in 12 years that the Cyprus Shooting Sport Federation is hosting the event after 1995 and 2003.

Cyprus Shooting Sport Federation Technical Director Petros Kyritsis has said that some 683 athletes and 250 technical staff will come to Cyprus, which is a new record He explained that the Championships are the last to take place before the Beijing Olympics next summer, adding that all ISSF member countries will participate with a view to securing the five remaining berths, out of 30, which have yet to be secured.
ISSF Secretary General Horst Schreiber has said he has been surprised by the record-braking competition list.

“I didn’t expect such large participation,” he told a news conference, adding that the Federation was very pleased.

During the ten days of competition, the athletes will battle it out in the disciplines of Trap, Double Trap and Skeet.

Cyprus is being represented by 22 athletes (15 men, 7 women) and has high hopes, especially in the Skeet, where George Achilleos is the world’s number one ranked shooter and Kyriacos Christoforou and Antonis Nicolaides are both also ranked in the top ten.

The first event, the men’s Double Trap, was yesterday won by Italian Francesco Danielo.

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