Team USA’s Skeet prowess continues to shine in Changwon today, starting with the finals in the Junior Men’s event.
USA’s Nic Moschetti finished qualification tied with two other shooters with a 121. He would hit 10 in a row to win a shoot-off for bib number and enter the finals with the #1 bib. Bib numbers would come in to play a lot during the finals with half of the finalist eliminated by bib number. That #1 would keep Nic shooting for Gold when he and India’s Gurnihal Singh Garcha were tied after 3 eliminations. Nic and Italy’s Elia Sdruccioli would go shot for shot until Nic dropped his last target, forcing Elia to hit all 4 of his targets. Elia would do just that, earning the Gold, while Nic would take home Silver.
The Women’s Team of Caitlin Connor, Kim Rhode, and Amber English would show why they are 3 of the top ranked shooters in the world. They swept the podium, with Caitlin becoming the 4th consecutive Women’s Skeet World Champion from the USA. Previous champions include Dania Jo Vizzi in 2017, Morgan Craft in 2016, and Brandy Drozd in 2016. Kim won the World Championship in 2010. The podium sweep means that the United States has secured the maximum of 2 quota places in women’s skeet for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The USA Women have been a dominating force throughout 2018, winning 7 of the 12 World Cup medals that were up for grabs. Amber’s 119/125, along with Kim and Caitlin’s 118/125, would give the US Team a total of 355/375, taking the Team Gold medal and setting a World Record in the process. They would finish 8 targets ahead of Silver medalists Italy and 10 ahead of Bronze medalists Cyprus. This makes 3 consecutive Team Gold medals for the US Women’s Skeet Team at the World Championships.
Qualification for Junior Women’s Skeet and Men’s Skeet kick off tomorrow. The Junior Women’s team of Katie Jacob, Austen Smith, and Sam Simonton are looking to repeat their podium sweep of last year’s World Championships in Moscow. Vincent Hancock will be looking to continue his win streak in 2018 where he’s taken home the Gold in every event he’s attended. Though I’m sure teammates Frank Thompson and Philip Jungman would be happy to break that streak for him.
To see the schedule for those finals, check out our viewing guide to the 2018 ISSF World Championships. To check scores during qualification, head over to the ISSF’s results page. For more news from the 2018 ISSF World Championships in Changwon, Korea, stay right here!