By: Mathias Amoah
Ivor Kobina Greenstreet last week
performed exceptionally well at the 5th International Para Trap Grand Prix,
which took place in Milan, Italy. He represented Ghana’s Black Snipers and took
as the first African to the event.
A statement issued and signed by Killian
Walsh, President of the Ghana National Rifle Association (GNRA) said the Shooting
contest was very vibrant attracting 64 competitors from 16 different countries
worldwide.
The association said despite this being Mr.
Greeenstreet first competitive event he did exceptionally well by passing
through all the qualification rounds. However, he did not make it into the
final of six shooters.
The statement said the Shooting
competition is known as the sitting Olympic Trap and comprises of five shooters
rotating between 5 stations and shooting 125 clay disc targets per 5
qualification rounds for men and 25 additional targets in the final round for
the six best shooters.
“The clay travels at 40mph in six
directions in a 45 degree arch giving the shooter approx. 1–1.5 seconds to
ascertain and shoot the target. It is a sport of mind to eye co-ordination and
super fine tuned reactions and one in which disabled athletes can successfully
compete against able bodied and win,” the statement noted.
Mr.
Walsh said Professor Marco Bernardi, the Scientific Director of the Italian
Paralympic Committee monitored the matches in order to develop a specific
classification system for Shotgun Shooting events for disabled shooters.
He mentioned that International Shooting
Sport Federation (ISSF) and Federazione Italiana Tiro Volo (FITAV) authorities stressed
the importance of the cooperation between ISSF and International Paralympic Committee (IPC), in order to further
develop the sport among disabled athletes and now promote it for inclusion in
the 2020 Para Olympics.
According to GNRA, the event started
with classification and official training. The rigorous classification proved
to be difficult for some participants where the medical staff assessed the
strength, balance, mobility, extent of the disability and then monitored the
practice and competition to obtain a benchmark for a new system.”
“The system mentioned was to grade the
participants from 1 to 10, 1 being minimal disability maximum ability and 10
being maximum disability minimal ability. Professor Bernardi has been asked to
develop this system for submission to the International Paralympic Committee
later this year for approval,” it added.
The association said Ivor Greenstreet
was very fortunate in meeting up with Tony Brogden who was representing New
Zealand and a former three time world champion.
Daily Express learnt that Tony Brogden
took Ivor under his wing and dedicated a huge proportion of his time in
coaching him and getting him ready for the event. This was crucial and the
results of his fantastic efforts gave Ivor the confidence and ability to
compete as he did.
“Trap shooting and indeed Para Shooting
is a fledgling sport in Ghana being established under the Ghana National Rifle
Association (GNRA). Currently the GNRA is developing West Africa’s first ever
Trap range where both able-bodied and para shooters can train and compete,”
GNRA said.
The GNRA said with the fantastic support
of Ghana Armed Forces (GAF), the GNRA has two GAF personnel competing in the
upcoming All African Shooting Games being held in Cairo in November this year,
which is an Olympic qualifier.
The Milan Olympic Trap was run by the
International Shooting Sports Federation, IPC and the Italian Shooting
federation. Also present at the competition was Killian Walsh, President of the
Ghana National Rifle Association (GNRA).
Comments
Post a Comment