The Malta Air Rifle and Pistol Shooting Club (MARPSC) held a presentations ceremony over the weekend, awarding the two winners of the Lawrence Darmanin Challenge Cup for the past season.

The Challenge Cup, in honour of the late organisation president,  went to those shooters with the best percentage scores over the entire season.

In Air Pistol, Eleanor Bezzina had the best scores, followed by Raymond Cacciattolo and Stephen Vassallo in that order.

The Air Rifle award went to Michael Xuereb. Gianluca Azzopardi Spiteri was the runner-up and William Vella third.

The trophies and shields, sponsored by LLMA, were presented to Bezzina and Xuereb by Josianne Darmanin, widow of the late Lawrence Darmanin, and their son Andre.

Meanwhile, the first event of the new season saw target shooters engaged in the first round of the national leagues at the Larry Vella Indoor Range, in Bidnija.

In both events, shooters had to aim at 60 targets over a time limit of 75 minutes.

Bezzina, who represented the country at the Rio Olympics in summer, started the season on a high after classifying first in the 10m Air Pistol with a score of 563 points from a possible 600.

Antoine Attard was second, 540, and Cacciattolo third, 538.

The winner of the 10m Air Rifle shoot was Vella with 588.9 points from a maximum of 654.

He was followed by Spiteri, 588.3, and Alison Formosa, 569.1.