MEDIA RELEASE

Thursday 1 December 2011

The Australian Shooting Team has qualified 17 athletes for the 2012 London Olympic Games after picking up one more quota on the final day of competition at the 2011 Oceania Championships at the Sydney International Shooting Centre.

South Australian Matthew Stokes (SA) was the hero for Australia in the men’s trap as he finished second behind Fijian Glenn Kable to win the valuable Olympic quota place for Australia.

Australia required a top two finish in the event to secure a second quota in the men’s trap and the athletes battled windy and overcast conditions throughout the day.

Stokes, who shot 49 from 50 targets on the opening day of competition in the men’s trap to lie in second overnight, moved to the equal lead after his third round before establishing a three target lead heading into the final on a score of 119.

In the 25 shot single barrel final Kable was the standout with a score of 22, while Stokes also performed well to record a 19 and send the final into a shoot-off after the pair tied on 138.

The 22-year-old South Australian missed with his first target in the shoot-off but his job was already done as the Australian camp rejoiced with the quota win.

Adam Vella (VIC) shot a 21 in the final to claim 3rd place overall, the 40-year-old Victorian finishing on a score of 136, two targets behind the Kable and Stokes.

Stokes, who equalled his personal best of 119 in qualifying, said it had been a great week.

“I’m extremely happy with that and to equal my pb in such an important event is a pretty good feeling,” Stokes said. “I’m really happy with my final, even though I trailed off a bit at the end.

“I am just really happy that we were able to get the quota.

“I had no idea how many Glenn had shot in the final and didn’t know what the situation was but it caps off a really good week for the team.”

Australia’s first quota in the men’s trap was won by dual Olympic gold medallist Michael Diamond (QLD) who earned the quota for Australia with a second place finish at the World Cup event in Maribor, Slovenia in July this year.

Today’s result now moves Diamond closer to a sixth Olympic Games as he aims to win a third gold medal.

Earlier in the day New Zealander Thomas Nobes won the final of the men's 50m pistol with a score of 628.2.

Australian Alfio Casagrande (QLD) finished in second place with a score of 618.7, followed by Bruce Quick (VIC) on 616.1.

Nobes’ qualifying score of 538 however was not great enough to be awarded an Olympic quota, with a minimum qualifying score of 540 from 600 required in the qualifying round.

Over the four days of competition at the 2011 Oceania Championships Australia won 13 quotas from a possible 15, allowing the team to qualify the same number of athletes as Beijing.

Australia’s athletes will now compete amongst themselves over the coming months in order to represent the country at the London Games.

Australia’s prospective team for London will be nominated to the Australian Olympic Committee in April (shotgun) and May (pistol and rifle) next year following a number of international and domestic events.

Media Contact: David Polglase 0401 453 041