From the 6th to the 15th of June, the fifth stage of the 2018 ISSF World Cup Shooting Series will this time take place at the Malta National Shooting Ranges at Ta' Kandja, limits of Siggiewi. More than 400 shooters will be in action, competing and representing 61 NOC's and piling up 478 starts.

The ISSF World Cup Stage 5 in Siggiewi (MLT) officially opened on Thursday with the opening ceremony held at the Malta National Shooting Ranges, a venue that was inaugurated only last month and which already represents a benchmark for all clay shooting ranges.

The ceremony was held in front of a big audience, including some important personalities like Mr. Vladimir Lisin, Vice-President of the ISSF, Mr. Saviour Portelli, President of the Malta Shooting Sport Federation, and Dr. Clifton Grima, Parliamentary Secretary for Youth, Sport and Voluntary Organisations.

“I would like to welcome you all to our beautiful islands and to this fantastic, new shooting range,” said Mr. Portelli.

“Today it’s a historic first step for Malta. Even if we are focused on the current competition, in fact, we are already thinking about the future, when this venue will have the chance to host many more prestigious international championships,” added Mr. Lisin, who then officially declared the competition open.

ISSF Vice President Vladimir Lisin, Parliamentary Secretary for Youth, Sports & Volontary Organizations Dr. Clifton Grima, MSSF President Saviour Portelli and MSSF PRO Edwin Vella.

The ceremony continued with more artistic exhibitions, and it concluded with a spectacular fireworks show.

After stopping in Guadalajara, Mexico, Changwon Korea, Fort Benning USA and Munich in Germany the 2018 ISSF World Cup Series is officially open in Siggiewi, marking the first ever ISSF Championship to be held in Malta.

The Competition will see 402 shooters from 61 nationa competing in the five Shotgun events - men's Trap and Skeet, women's Trap and Skeet, Trap Mixed Team - for a total of 478 starts.

This first-ever international shooting event will take place at the newly built Malta National Shooting Ranges.

The final stage of the 2018 ISSF World Cup Series will take place in Tucson (USA) from July 9th to July 19th, while an ISSF Junior World Cup is expected to take place in Suhl (GER) from June 22nd to June 29th. 

The Malta team who will be competing in the ISSF World Cup Shotgun Championship in Malta. Photo © Domenic Aquilina

 

Here's the schedule of the five finals:

Friday, June 8th

Skeet Women at 6:00 pm (UTC+2:00)

 

Saturday, June 9th

Skeet Men at 6:30 pm

 

Tuesday, June 12th

Trap Women at 5:30 pm

 

Wednesday, June 13th

Trap Men at 6:30 pm

 

Thursday, June 14th

Trap Mixed Team at 4:15 pm

 

The shotgun pellet of top Italian skeet shooter Diana Bacosi is seen in midair (centre) as it leaves the muzzle of her shotgun destined to its' target - the orange skeet (top right) during the Preliminary Day 1 of the Female Skeet event at the ISSF World Cup Shotgun Championship in Malta. Photo: Domenic Aquilina