Italian shooter Daniele Di Spigno required a record-breaking performance yesterday to stop William Chetcuti from winning a gold medal at the Mediterranean Games following a tense double trap final at the Manoppello Shooting Range.
Di Spigno, 34, shattered the Games record in qualifying with scores of 47-49-49 (145). The previous best belonged to Marco Innocenti, another Italian who had 139 before the final in Almeria 2005.
Di Spigno's overall score of 190 yesterday was three points better than the finals record he had said during the Bari Games in 1997.
However, despite his remarkable feats, Di Spigno only managed to finish a mere one clay ahead of Chetcuti in the final classification in Pescara.
In fact, the 24-year-old Maltese double trap prodigy almost outsmarted his Italian opponent in the barrage but a remarkable 49 was still not enough for him to finish on the highest step of the podium as Di Spigno kept his cool despite the strong pressure applied by Chetcuti in the crucial phase of the final.
In the end, Chetcuti had to settle for a silver medal, an outstanding result and an improvement on the third placing he obtained four years ago in Almeria.
In the final standings, he was way ahead of Francesco D'Aniello, another strong contender for the honours. The Italian finished with 180 points in third place.
In the qualifying round, Chetcuti's scores were 46-46-48 (140). Before the barrage, he was five points behind Di Spigno with D'Aniello on 136.
Despite enjoying a com-fortable lead, Di Spigno came under increasing pressure as Chetcuti only missed one clay from his last round of 50.
Earlier, Di Spigno had tried to distract Chetcuti with some mind games but the GSSE 2009 gold medallist regrouped in time to give the Italian a good run for his money.
Extra confidence
In the barrage, Di Spigno's score of 45 was his lowest of the day but, luckily for him, just good enough to prevent Chetcuti from becoming the first Maltese ever to win a gold medal at the Mediterranean Games.
"This result fills me with confidence ahead of the European Championships," an elated Chetcuti said.
"I was coming from a rather poor showing in a World Cup shoot last month but for this one I think I was better prepared... all this thanks to my coach and the federation besides others.
"In the end, I think I was unlucky not to win this competition. Di Spigno was complaining all the time. I guess he was under too much pressure. Hope next time it will be my turn to win gold."
Chetcuti's silver medal is another feather in the cap for the Malta Shooting Sport Federation.
In fact, this is the third medal in shooting at the Med. Games following the one of Manwel Abela in trap in France '93 and Chetcuti's bronze four years ago.
Carol Walsh, the country's popular long-distance runner, had also won a silver medal at these Games after a second place in the Bari marathon in 1997.
"This is another outstanding result for Chetcuti and our federation," MSSF president Salvu Portelli told The Times.
"The medal is another step in the right direction in his career and we're convinced that it could have been even better here. But, destiny deemed otherwise and the judges' decisions did not help our cause either.
"Overall, we are highly satisfied with William's performance. He had two incredible rounds here... it was a joy to see him hitting those scores. All this augurs well for his next shoot in the Croatia Europeans next week."
Meanwhile, Malta's third shooter in Pescara, Clive Farrugia, yesterday took part in the skeet event's opening three rounds.
He had creditable scores of 22-24-23 to finish tied in 13th place on 69, four clays away from a place in the final which will be held this afternoon after another two qualifying rounds of 25 clays each.
Cyprus shooter Georgios Achilleos and Nikolaos Mavrommatis, of Greece, are joint leaders in the skeet classification with 75 points following a remarkable streak of three straights.
Earlier this week, Nazzareno Attard represented Malta in the trap shoot.
Double trap final: 1. D. Di Spigno (145+45) 190; 2. W. Chetcuti (140+49) 189; 3. F. D'Aniello (136+44) 180; 4. S. Theodotou (130+45) 175; 5. Y. Ilnam (123+36) 159; 6. M. Zonzini (111+34) 145.