The Buenos Aires ISSF World Cup came to close overnight with the Australian Shotgun Team adding to its medal tally, winning a silver medal in the Trap Mixed Team event.
On the back of their strong individual trap performances and finals berths the day prior, Victorians Penny Smith and Mitch Iles combined competitive forces overnight to contest the Mixed Team event.
The duo were required to shoot 75 targets each across 3 rounds of 25 to combine a qualification score out of 150 targets. At the end of qualification Smith and Iles scored a total of 143, placing them equal second qualifiers with 3 other teams. They then entered a shoot off to determine which team would join Chinese Taipei in the Gold Medal match. After an additional 8 targets, Smith and Iles secured their Gold Medal match place.
The second Australian Team of Kiara Dean and James Willett finished qualification on 140/150, placing 8th.
In an extremely close Gold Medal match contest, and with just ten targets for each team to go, Chinese Taipei led 37 targets to Australia’s 35. With Smith and Iles hitting all ten of their remaining targets, and Chinese Taipei missing 2, this meant both teams were tied on a score of 45 at the end of the 50 target match. Entering a sudden death shoot off to determine who would take home the Gold and Silver medals, the Australian’s missed their 5th target to win the silver medal, with Chinese Taipei securing gold. Italy secured the bronze medal.
Speaking to the performances in the Gold Medal match, Olympic Shotgun Coach, Renae Birgan, said “There was some incredible shooting done in tough conditions and both teams delivered a performance in the final worthy of a gold medal.”
Of Smith’s individual gold medal win the day prior and Iles making the Men’s Trap final in Buenos Aires, Birgan said, “I am incredibly proud of these two athletes for backing up their individual performances from the previous day. Today they gave it everything they had left and more.”
The Australian Shotgun Team will now have a couple of days rest before departing for Lima, Peru where the second World Cup of the 2025 season will commence on 13 April.
Any media enquiries can be directed to:
Jane Vella at Shooting Australia via Email: jane@shootingaustralia.org
or via Mobile: 0407 859 197
