Willett Wins World Cup Silver In Men’s Trap

NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holder, dual Olympian and Trap Mixed Team World Champion James Willett has won silver in the Men’s Trap shotgun event at the ISSF World Cup in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Only three weeks prior, Yarrawonga resident Willett won a bronze medal at the Cairo, Egypt World Cup, and after a short time back in Australia, landed in Almaty in competitive form where he was the top qualifier shooting 123 out of 125 targets.

“…I managed to top qualify and am really happy with that. It is the second highest score [I have shot] at a World Cup so I am really pleased with that and managed to keep it up all the way.” Willett said.

“Bib number 1 [as top qualifier] got me through [a few eliminations in the final] so I am pleased to come away with a silver medal after a big few months.”

Going into the last ten targets of the final to determine the gold and silver medals, Willett was three targets behind Italy’s Massimo Fabbrizi. With the two internationally experienced and successful competitors each hitting 9 out of the ten targets, Fabbrizi retained his lead taking the gold medal with a finals’ score of 46 out of 50 targets, and Willett the silver medal with 43 out of 50.

With the re-introduction of the Tokyo Olympic final format in the lead into the Paris 2024 Olympics, it was a welcomed change in Almaty from what has been a somewhat elongated finals format over the last 18 months.

Willett said “I am really pleased we are back to the Tokyo format and obviously it paid off for me today and it flowed much better.”

Watching on from home, Willett’s very proud wife Amy said “The consistency in training and exposure to finals pressure this year has paid off and I am very proud of him.”

From her hometown in Mulwala, Willetts mum Dionne said “We are very proud of him [James] and his achievements. He certainly kept me on the edge of my seat but it was an excellent example of his determination.”

Some members of the Australian Shotgun team will now turn their focus to the Green Cup, Italy at the end of June with national team selection to the July Lonato, Italy World Cup likely to be announced in the coming days.

Article and image courtesy of Shooting Australia