Maltese shooter Jeffrey Tonna was a whisker away from creating a major upset in the ISSF World Cup trap competition in Sydney, yesterday.

At the end of five tense rounds at the 2000 Olympic Shooting Range, Tonna finished a creditable eighth, just one clay short from a place in the barrage following remarkable scores of 24, 24, 21, 24 and a straight of 25. He finished with a total of 118 clays from a possible 125.

The sixth slot in the final went to Russian Alexei Alipov. He won a shoot-off with David Kostelcki, of the Czech Republic, after both had finished tied on a score of 119 points.

Spain’s Alberto Fernandez won the competition after a shoot-off with Italian Rodolfo Vigano. They had finished on an equal 143 clays, the Spaniard hitting the best score in the barrage – 23.

As Fernandez had already qualified for the London 2012 Games, the two Olympic Quota Places went to Vigano and third-placed Stefan Ruettgeroth, of Germany.

A record number of 750 shooters, hailing from 68 different countries, competed in 15 events in Sydney, 74 shooters were on the line for the Trap competition alone.

Thirty-four Olympic Quota Places were also at stake.

Two other competitors rep-resenting the Malta Shooting Sport Federation in the men’s trap shoot yesterday were Rennie Deguara and James Galea. Deguara managed 107 points and Galea 97.

In midweek, Malta’s Kathryn Mary-Ann Puhar could only manage 53 points in three rounds in the women’s trap. The gold medal went to San Marino’s Alessandra Perilli. She finished with a score of 89 (68+21).

Men’s trap final

1. A. Fernandez (Spain, 120+23) 143+1; 2. R. Vigano (Italy, 121+22) 143; 3. S. Ruettgeroth (Germany, 121+21) 142; 4. A. Alipov (Russia, (119+22) 141; 5. M. Diamond (Australia, 120+18) 138; 6. M. Faria (Portugal, 121+17) 138.