Heydar Aliyev Grand Prix wraps up in Gabala
By Nigar Orujova
International Grand Prix Shotgun came to an end in Gabala on August 21 with a new record for Azerbaijan.
The fast growing northern city hosted for the first time the international competition of such a high rank.
Heydar Aliyev Grand Prix which started on August 15 brought together the best athletes from Australia, England, Belarus, Georgia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Cyprus, Kuwait, Finland, Iran, Italy and Uzbekistan to compete in trap and skeet.
The Grand Prix was co-organized by Gabala Shooting Club, National Olympic Committee, Youth and Sports Ministry and the National Shooting Federation with $81,000 prize fund.
The winners of the Grand Prix in men' skeet were Rory Warlow (UK), Rashid Hamad (Qatar) and Alexander Yaschenko (Kazakhstan).
Men' trap winners were Victor Khasyanov (Kazakhstan), Aleksey Alipov (Russia) and Jack Wallack (UK).
Women' skeet discipline winners were respectively Svetlana Demina (Russia), Olga Ponarina (Russia), and Elena Allen (UK).
The first three places of women' trap were taken by Maria Dmitriyenko (Kazakhstan), Kholoud Al-Khalaf (Qatar), and Satu Makela-Numela (Finland) respectively.
A new record for Azerbaijan was made by Vice-President of Gabala Shooting Club, professional shooter Elvin Ismayilov, who entered the final of the tournament and took the 5th place in trap shooting.
Azerbaijan was presented in skeet by Olympic champion Zemfira Meftahetdinova (9th place), finalist of the World Cup, record holder in Azerbaijan, Nurlana Jafarova (8th place), Khanhuseyn Bagirov (8th place), Emin Jafarov (10th place), and Pasha Ahadpour (15th place), in trap Alina Rafikhanova became the seventh.
The closing ceremony of the Grand Prix was attended by the President of Gabala sport club Tale Heydarov, Vice President of the National Shooting Federation Hafiz Jafarov and members of the presidium of the European Shooting Confederation Petros Kyritsis and Wilhelm Grill.
Olympic and World Champion Aleksey Alipov and Australian head coach Valeriy Timokhin addressed the ceremony and thanked the organizers of the event.
The first high-ranking competition successfully ended in Gabala Shooting Club that will host the final games of the World Cup this October, and World Cup in 2015, where the Olympic licenses will be played.