WENZEL WINS HER 4TH SKEET WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE: “I LOVE THIS SPORT!”

The German shooter Christine Wenzel won her 4th Shotgun World Championship Gold at the 2013 ISSF Shotgun World Championship in Lima, Peru.

Germany's Christine Wenzel won the Skeet Women Final at the 2013 ISSF Shotgun World Championship in Lima, Peru.

The 32-year old shooter from Ibbenbueren defended the title she had won at the last ISSF World Championship in Belgrade, in 2011, by defeating Italy's Simona Scocchetti in the Gold medal match by 15 to 12 hits.

“This is an extraordinary result for me. It feel great, and I am super happy that I made it”. The German shooter said with a smile on her face. “I love Skeet. I love Shooting. This sport is my life!”

Wenzel qualified for the Semi-Final in fifth place with 72+4 hits, after passing through a four-way shoot-off. Then, the German champion led the Semi-Final match with a perfect score of 16 hits, winning then the Gold medal match with ease.

This is not the first victory of the German record-setter, who had won the last three ISSF separate Shotgun World Championship in a row, in 2007, 2009 and 2011.

“It's my fourth World Championship Title! The feeling? It's similar to the other victories, but yet different.” Wenzel added.

“I am here alone this time, my family is in Germany.”

“Being a mother and professional athlete? It works for me. But I am 12000 km far from my family, and that makes it harder, sometimes.” Wenzel explained. “My husband Tino and our son Tobias are at home, and of course I am always thinking about them. But I came here to compete, so I tried to concentrated on doing my job... and I think I have done that quite good today!”

“When I made it to the Gold medal match, I knew I was going to be on the podium. I just concentrated on my routine: I shot with my normal rhythm, and that lifted me up on the podium.”

Wenzel qualified for the 2013 ISSF World Cup Final, which will take place in Abu Dhabi, from the 21 through the 29 of October. But now, after today's extraordinary victory, it's time to get back home. The present for her 3-year old son Tobias? The fourth Shotgun Wolrd Championship title in a row.

Italy's Simona Scocchetti finished in second, with 12 hits in the Gold medal match, after hitting 72+4 targets in the qualification rounds and 14 targets in the Semi-Final. Today's medal turned out to be Scocchetti's first award as senior shooter. The 28-year old athlete had indeed won a Junior World Championship Silver and a Junior European Championship Bronze medal in 2005, but since then her best international placement had been a fourth place at this year's ISSF World Cup in Granada.

“It hasn't been easy for me today. The visibility wasn't the best. I was feeling confident during the Semi-Final, but then sun went down and I struggled with the light in the Gold medal match.” The Italian shooter said. “But at the end, I am happy that I finally made it to the podium!”

Today's Bronze medal went to Great Britain's Elena Allen, 41, who won the medal match by outdoing Russia's Olga Panarina 12 to 11 hits. Allen had already won a World Championship Bronze at Lahti 2002.

Great Britain's Amber Hill and Italy's Diana Bacosi, who both had equalled the World Record of 74 hits during the qualifications, placed in fifth and sixth place at the semifinal, with 12 and 11 hits, respectively.

Italian team on top, without their coach

“I am far from my team, but I am proud of them for their great results.” The coach of the Italian team, the 2004 Olympic Champion Andrea Benelli commented via facebook after today's victory. The Italian team, led by the Gold medallist Simona Scocchetti and by the World Record holder Diana Bacosi, together with their teammate Katiuscia Spada, won indeed the Skeet Women team competition with an overall score of 215 hits. Benelli could not travel to the event due to personal problems, but he kept on following his team, commenting the final results on internet: “I am far from there, but you can't understand how close I feel, girls!”

Thanks to Amber Hill's 74 and to Elena Allen's 72, and to the 66 of their teammate Pinky Le Grelle, Great Britain placed in second on the teams' podium with a total score of 212 hits. The Russian team (Olga Panarina, Nadezda Konovalova and Landish Kvartalova) placed in third securing the Bronze with 207 points.

Marco Dalla Dea

RESULTS - Skeet Women