The controversial new finals system for Olympic clay target shooting disciplines has produced multiple upsets at the Australian Clay Target Association National Championships held in Brisbane.
Tom Turner from Cessnock NSW charged from 6th place in qualifying to win the new semi-final and then defeated Victoria’s Nicholas Kirley in the one-on-one duel for the gold medal.
Tom Turner said everyone was getting used to the new system, but believed it didn’t reward the best shooter on the day.
“It was great for me today, but I doubt I would have won under the old system in which the final score was added to the qualifying score,” Tom said.
There was an upset even before today’s rain-sodden men’s trap when dual Olympic gold medalist Michael Diamond failed to qualify for the final.
It was a similar story in the Women’s Trap with top qualifier and Athens gold medalist Suzy Balogh bundled out of medal contention in the semi-final.
Victoria’s Laetisha Scanlan was victorious in the gold medal duel defeating New Zealand’s Natalie Rooney by just one target.
The pattern was evident again in the Men’s Skeet with top qualifier Paul Adams of Brisbane eliminated from the medal race.
Victoria’s Keith Ferguson came away with the gold despite qualifying nine targets behind Adams.
The championships were staged at the Brisbane Gun Club in Belmont and was the first national Olympic clay target shooting tournament conducted in the world under the new system.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1N06C3mTyw
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