Hoffmann wins ahead of Ahrens
Winning trio: Oliver Ahrens (centre) won the event while Gaby Ahrens (left) and Gielie van Wyk had to settle for third and fourth respectively. Photo credit: Private Gielie van Wyk: Record holder: Gielie van Wyk broke the Namibian as well as equalling the African record.
The 15-year youngster, who had showed his capabilities by winning two medals at the South African Grand last month, took the win in the Olympic Trap discipline after beating former Commonwealth-medallist Gaby Ahrens in the gold medal match.
Hoffmann hit an incredible 14/15 clay pigeons in the final to secure the win. Ahrens still managed a good 13/15 hits. She has now made the podium at all three trails so far this year.
However, the story of the day came from Gielie van Wyk. The winner of the first two events broke the Namibian as well as equalling the African record after recording a near perfect score of 123/125 during qualification. After missing two targets in the first round, he didn’t miss again, securing a perfect 100 in the process giving him a total score of 23, 25, 25, 25 and 25. Unfortunately for van Wyk, he could not keep the momentum in the knock-out phase where he was eventually beaten to the final by a superb Hoffmann. Van Wyk still made third place with Hasso Ahrens in fourth.
For Ahrens the tournament was the last competitive shot ahead of the World Cup in Azerbaijan in August. The international showpiece is aimed at preparing her for the African Championships in November in Johannesburg where she hopes to walk away with the win and thus qualify for the Games in Rio de Janeiro next year.
“I accept my score, and am looking forward to intensifying my training sessions heading into the next World Cup in August,” she explained.
Winner Oliver Hoffmann left for Italy on Monday to participate at a Youth Training Camp focusing on the Olympic Trap Shotgun Discipline, with the best coaches in the world attending to the youngsters.
