Parade of stars at Tav Umbriaverde, 76 specialists from 13 countries on the platform – Massa Martana (PG) – The 2024 edition of the Emir CUP ends with the Skeet races, an international competition organized by the Tav U/mbriaverde-Todi of Massa Martana (PG) and Kuwait and which this year brought to Italy 76 among the best Skeet specialists from 13 Nations.
The two Cups up for grabs were raised to the sky by Sara Bongini and Alessio Bagnato, respectively first in the Ladies and ID rankings, i.e. shooters with international experience in the ISSF circuit.
Starting with the latter, Alessio Bagnato was the protagonist of a majestic performance. The Sicilian from Catanzaro closed the qualifications with an excellent score of 123/125 and with +16 in the play-off for assigning the back number for the final, he entered the decisive series with back number one. In the demanding race for the podium he made very few mistakes, only letting two targets slip away, and he concluded the regulation throws with 58/60. Like him also Valerio Palmucci (Fiamme Oro) from Fiano Romano (RM), second best in qualifying with 123/125 +15. The two continued the duel in the play-off for gold and silver, which Bagnato then won with +6 to +5. On the third step of the podium is the American Benjamin Keller, two-time Junior World Champion in 2022 and 2023, bronze medal with 123/125 +3 and 48/50.
The victory in the women’s category was also Italian with Sara Bongini who won among the Ladies. The representative of the Fiamme Oro of Impruneta (FI) showed up at the final as the best of the qualifiers, thanks to the excellent 123/125 totaled in the five series of competition, and then brilliantly passed all the eliminations until she found herself duelling with the Kuwaiti Aiman Al-Shaama for the gold and silver. The two opponents did not give each other any discounts and found themselves tied at the end of the regulation throws with 52/60. Only the play-off resolved the issue, assigning the gold to the Italian with +4 and the silver to the Kuwaiti with +3. Giga Longhi (Fiamme Oro) of Longone Sabino (RI) also climbed onto the podium, winning the bronze medal with 120/125 and 41/50.
The Junior Men’s podium was all blue with the gold of Cristian Giudici with 122/125 +5 and 56/60, the silver of Gioele Carletti with 120/125 +5 and 53/60, and the bronze of Matteo Bragalli with 123/125 and 43/50.
Among the Junior Ladies, the best was Viola Picciolli, gold with 109/125 and 52/60, followed on the podium by Eleonora Ruta, silver with 121/125 and 51/60, and by the British Bethani Norton, bronze medal with 112/125 +41/50.
The last ranking, the No ID one reserved for shooters with no experience in the international arena, awarded Gianluca Flore as the best, first with 117/125 and 46/60. With him on the podium also the Greek Vasilios Tsakiris, silver with 119/125 and 44/60, and the Italian Eros Marcellini, bronze with 117/125 +4 and 35/50.
In the Mixed Team Senior ranking, the Italian cup formed by Domenico Simeone and Giada Longhi prevailed with 114/150 +3 and 44/48, while in the Mixed Team Junior ranking, the gold went to the team composed of Paolo Micheli and Viola Picciolli with 144/150 +11 and 41/48.
Finally, as regards the team competition, both gold medals up for grabs went to the Italian teams. Among the men, the trio composed of Matteo Bragalli, Cristian Giudici and Marco Coco won with 367/375, while among the women, the trio composed of Sara Bongini, Giada Longhi and Damiana Paolacci won with 353/375.
Com. Stam. + FITAV photo
