The Malta Shooting Sport Federation will be hosting two top-notch competitions this month – the Tumas Group Double Trap and the Trap Grand Prix.
The Double Trap shoot will be held on Sunday, with a 10am start.
Each competitor shoots five rounds of 15 pairs each. The top six after the qualification rounds will make the semi-finals and the medal matches will follow in the afternoon.
The Maltese federation will be represented by William Chetcuti, Nathan Lee Xuereb, Gianluca Chetcuti, Wayne Farrugia and Matthew Grech.
They will be vying for the title against an Italian contingent of five marksmen who have already confirmed their participation.
The 2014 International Double Trap winner, Alessandro Chianese, will be back along with Olympic medallist Francesco D’Aniello and Ferdinando Rossi.
Rossi was runner-up last year ahead of William Chetcuti, the only local shooter to make the top six.
The Trap Grand Prix will be staged the following weekend.
This shoot will be on 150 clays and starts on Saturday, May 16 to be continued the next day with the semi-finals and the decisive medal match.
An Italian team and a number of British shooters are expected to compete against the locals in the trap competition.
The Grand Prix winner last year was Jeffrey Pisani. He beat James Galea Jr in the gold medal match 13-10.
The federation is urging the sporting public to attend and support the Maltese shooters in both competitions. Entrance will be free.
Meanwhile, Brian Galea, James Galea Jr, Jason J. Aquilina and Paul Formosa recently competed in the ISSF 2015 World Cup trap shoot in Cyprus.
James Galea Jr (51st overall) and Brian Galea (56th) both targeted remarkable scores of 118/125 (ISSF MQS) while Aquilina finished with 113 (109th – ISSF MQS) and Formosa 100.
Former trap Olympic champion David Kostelecky, of the Czech Republic, won the trap event at the Larnaca range.
In the gold medal match, Kostelecky beat Yavuz Ilnam, of Turkey, 13-12. Croatia’s Josip Glasnovic classified third.
In all, 148 trap shooters took part.