William Chetcuti made history for Malta in this competition as he succeeded in defending his Malta gold medal wih another triumph at the La Rabassa Shooting Range.
Chetcuti finished the competition on 179/200 hitting 44 in the final round. Grima hit 40 in the final to finish with a total of 161. Sgtephen Theodotou of Cyprus was third after a shoot-off with Maurizio Zonizini of San Marino.
It was Chetcuti's second successive gold medal after having won a silver at the San Marino Games in 2001. And it was also a major triumph for Emmanuel Grima who went one better this time round, claiming the silver medal after having won the bronze two years ago in Malta.
The Maltese clan was obviously delighted at this great success, especially the shooting fraternity which celebrated appropriately at the end of the competition.
Chetcuti said he was obviously enjoying the triumphant moment. "I am very happy I have won gold once again. Next time, I hope I will be able to make it a hat-trick of wins. In the first two rounds, it was a bit tense, but by the end I was well ahead and I kept shooting confidently till the end," he said.
Emmanuel Grima announced that he will be retiring when asked whether he would challenge for gold next time, after a bronze and a silver. He said: "I am getting older and I feel it is time to say goodbye to this wonderful sport. I am glad I have won the silver, having improved on the bronze I had won in Malta. Our success is a great boost for the Shooting Federation and I am sure our shooters will continue reaping more success in future," he said.
A highly emotional Shooting Federation President Salvu Portelli said: "This is another moment of great joy for all of us. All our shooters had great performances here. Sometimes one is lucky, on other occasions there is absolutely no luck. But we are obviously happy with our haul," he said.
Jimmy Bugeja, William Chetcuti's coach, said he was happy for William and the whole shooting clan. "We came here with a purpose and we achieved what we wanted," he said.