Egypt's Azmy Mehelba competes in the men's skeet qualification during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Asaka Shooting Range in the Nerima district of Tokyo on July 26, 2021. (TAUSEEF MUSTAFA / AFP)
ZAGREB - Egypt's Azmy Mehelba made all his shots in the medal match to beat four-time world champion Vincent Hancock for the men's skeet gold at the World Shotgun Championships in Osijek, Croatia on Sunday.
Three-time Olympic champion Vincent Hancock made an extra 32 hits in the shoot-off to earn third place in the qualification
The world championships is also part of the qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, with four quota places on offer in each individual event.
Three-time Olympic champion Hancock made an extra 32 hits in the shoot-off to earn third place in the qualification. The 33-year-old topped his bracket of ranking match ahead of Stefan Nilsson of Sweden, who made all his 125 shots in the qualification.
Mehelba led his bracket and entered the medal match together with Rashid Al-Athba of Qatar.
ALSO READ: Grand Slam winner and shooter Yang Haoran still on the road
It was mostly a match between Mehelba and Hancock after both of them made their first 24 attempts. However, Hancock missed his 26th while 31-year-old Mehelba kept his nerve to hit all of the remaining targets, winning his maiden world title.
Al-Athba beat Nilsson to fourth and Egypt, the United States, Qatar and Sweden got their quota places for Paris 2024.
Italy's Rio Olympic champion Diana Bacosi, 39, won the women's competition with a dominating 37-hit performance, missing only one shot in the final duel against 2015 World Cup Final champion Amber Hill. The 25-year-old, who had already secured a Paris 2024 quota for Britain at the European Championships, made 31 hits in the medal match for a silver.
ALSO READ:China national shotgun team to resume preparation for Olympics
Samantha Simonton of the United States, 22, bagged a bronze, which was her first world championships medal. Vanesa Hockova, despite missing the podium, earned a Paris 2024 berth for Slovak.