2008 Olympic Champ Kostelecky won Trap Men final in Al Ain and secured a pass to Rio

Challenging wind conditions did not stop the Czech Olympic Champion Kostelecky from pocketing the Trap Men Gold medal and an Olympic Quota place. Silver medallist Josip Glasnovic also qualified for Rio. Bronze went to Turkey's Tuzun.

The 2008 Olympic Champion David Kostelecky of the Czech Republic, 39, won the Trap Men event on day 2 of the 2015 ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Al Ain (UAE).

Kostelecky cleared the qualification with 123 hits, and then hit 14 targets in the semi-final in spite of the challenging wind conditions.

After the semi-final, the Czech champion found himself tied to Croatia's Glasnovic and to Turkey's Tuzun. In the following shoot-off, both his opponents missed their first target, giving him a spot in the Gold medal match with 14+1 hits.

There, he met and defeat Croatia's 31-year old Josip Glasnovic, a 2013 European Champion, by 14 to 12 hits. Two Olympic Quota Places were up for grabs, today. So both Kostelecky and Glasnovic secured a ticket to Rio de Janeiro.

“If you ask me now how I hit 14 targets in the semi-final, I don't have an answer. It has been so windy today, with send flying all over, that I can't believe we scored so many targets. It has been a though match and I am glad that I finally made it.” Kostelecky said after the award ceremony.

“Winning the Olympic Quota was the goal to achieve here.” He added.

“I was planning to participate in all world cup stages this year, but now I think I will take some time off to train back home, and to give a chance to my teammates.”

The Czech Olympic Champion, surprisingly, had never won an ISSF Gold medal, through his 25-year long shooting career.

“It feels great. I am 40 and I had never won an ISSF World Cup Stage. I thought I was never going to achieve one. Now it's here, in my hands, and it's will be a nice story to tell my sons.” The father of two commented.

After loosing the shoot-off for the Gold medal match, Turkey's 2012 ISSF World Cup champion Oguzhan Tunzun, 32, secured the Bronze medal beating Italy's Daniele Resca by 12 to 11 hits.

Today's match turned into an unlucky final for the two-time Olympic Silver medallist and four-time World Champion Giovanni Pellielo of Italy. The 45-year old athlete, who holds the current world record and ranks second in the international ranking, qualified for the Finals with an almost-perfect score of 124 hits out of 125 targets. But then he lost 3 targets in the semi-final, ending up in fifth place with a score of 12 hits.

Three targets behind him, the winner of last year's African Championship, Abdel Aziz Mehelba, 26, from Egypt, closed the round in sixth with 9 hits.

The ISSF World Cup in Al Ain (UAE) is held at the Al Ain Equestrian, Shooting and Gold Club from the 19^th through the 29^th of March. The next medals and Olympic quotas will be assigned the day after tomorrow, March 24, at the Double Trap Men Finals. Watch the match live on www.issf-sports.org