IPC Shooting World Cup opens in Bangkok

It will mark the first IPC Shooting World Cup event for delegations from both Kenya and Kuwait, while South Africa will also send its top shooting athlete in Vonnie Kohne.

The final stage of the 2013 IPC Shooting World Cup opened on Tuesday (13 August) in Bangkok, Thailand, where nearly 125 athletes from 21 different countries are taking part in the event.

Host nation Thailand will have the largest delegation at the event with 29 athletes, while the IPC’s One to Watch athlete Abdulla Alaryani from the UAE will take part in three disciplines at the final stage of the World Cup. The reigning Paralympic champion in the R6 (50m rifle prone SH1) will take part in the same event he won Paralympic gold in, as well as the R1 (men’s 10m air rifle standing SH1), R3 (mixed 10m air rifle prone SH1) and R7 events (men’s 50m rifle 3 positions SH1).

It will mark the first IPC Shooting World Cup event for delegations from both Kenya and Kuwait, while South Africa will also send its top shooting athlete in Vonnie Kohne.

Slovakia’s Veronika Vadovicova, a Paralympic champion at Beijing 2008, will look to continue her success this season in Bangkok, having medalled at all the 2013 World Cup events she’s participated in thus far. She will have the opportunity to make the podium in four different events.

Also taking part will be Paralympian and US Army veteran Eric Hollen and current US Army Staff Sergeant John Joss. The latter, a rifle shooter, is part of the US Army Marksmanship Unit’s Paralympic section, a programme that allows soldiers wounded in combat to represent the US Army in international competition while continuing to serve their nation.

Sizeable delegations from Australia, Germany, Great Britain, Japan and Ukraine will also take part in the event. South Korea are also sending a large contingent of athletes with high medal hopes.

The 2013 World Cup competitions serve as a build-up to the IPC Shooting European Championships taking place in Alicante, Spain from 18-26 October.

Over 200 athletes from 30 countries are expected to gather at the Club Lucentum for the first major IPC Shooting Championships since London 2012 and ahead of the 2014 World Championships, which will be held in Suhl, Germany.