Overnight at the Lima, Peru World Cup, it was Australian’s Kiara Dean and Penny Smith who progressed to the 6 person final in the Women’s Trap event.
23 year old Dean, who made her World Cup final debut in Lima, finished qualification as third top qualifier after shooting a score of 117 out of 125 targets.
Smith, one target behind Dean on 116, equalled the qualification score of the Paris 2024 gold medallist Adriana Ruana Oliva, with the two entering a ‘miss and out’ shoot off to determine who would go into the final wearing bib numbers 4 and 5. Smith only needed to hit 1 target in the shoot off to win the shoot off and bib 4.
Laetisha Scanlan narrowly missed a finals berth, shooting a qualification score of 113 and finishing in 8th place.
After the first 25 targets in the final, Dean was eliminated in 6th place. Another 10 targets in the final, and Smith was eliminated in 4th place. Italy’s Silvana Stanco won the gold medal, Mar Molne Magrina (ESP) silver, and Oliva (GUA) the bronze medal.
Not long out of Juniors, of her experience at the Lima World Cup, and a finals field that included the three Paris Olympic medallists, Dean said, “My experience over the last two days has been very valuable. One of my biggest goals has been to make an open World Cup final and to be standing out and shooting with such a high calibre of the worlds best shooters is something that will absolutely push me to the next step in my shooting career.”
With the Australian clay target shooting community following on with enthusiasm and encouragement back home, it’s often difficult to get a real feel for the range and conditions the Team is shooting in. Dean said, “This range has been one of my favourite places to shoot. The ranges are all very consistent and during qualifying the conditions were perfect for shooting….a fantastic range to gain valuable experience from.”
Having now competed in two back to back World Cups this month, Dean reflects, “I’m really satisficed with the experience that I have gained from our South America tour and look forwards to the rest of the 2025 season. We have multiple domestic selections to go for this year [World Championships] and I look forward to any international opportunities that may arise.”
Competing in three international events already this year that have included a Grand Prix in Qatar and the two South American World Cups, Smith has been successful in making every final and has added two individual gold medals and one teams silver medal to her collection. Reflecting on 2025 so far, Smith says, “I am extremely happy with the start of the year. We have had quite a jam packed start to 2025 but I’ve hit the ground running. We [my team] have a clear plan of what this year looks like and we are just working through it match by match.
Shooting alongside team mate Dean in her first World Cup final, Smith said, “It was great to see a team mate in the final. There is always going to be pressure, but we both have our own routines, so I guess we just stick to what we know.”
With the final day of competition on Monday and on the back of their recent silver medal win in the Buenos Aires World Cup, Smith will again join Mitch Iles in the Mixed Team event, before the Australian team returns to Australia. Looking ahead Smith said, “I am looking forward to going out there again tomorrow with Mitch and giving it another crack. We will give it our all. Once back home I will have some down time and go back to work, ride my horses and then build up to domestic competition in Brisbane in June. There is still a lot to navigate for the rest of 2025, but really looking forward to the challenge that lies ahead.”
In the Men’s Trap event that also concluded overnight, Australians Gabe Sensi shot 122 out of 125 and finished in 7th place, Milad Nasr shot 120 out of 125 and finished 9th, James Willet shot 115 finishing 22nd and Mitch Iles shot 112 finishing 32nd.
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Jane Vella, Event and Communication Manager at Shooting Australia via Email:jane@shootingaustralia.org
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