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Jason Maroney R5-10mJason Maroney (Wangaratta, VIC) has finished his International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Championship campaign with a respectable fourth place finish in the R5 (Air Rifle Prone Mixed) event, in Suhl, Germany.

Maroney qualified for the finals comfortably on a total of 636.1 points.

In the eight-person final, he beat Paralympic gold medallist, Ukraine’s Vasyl Kovalchuk, who finished seventh. Despite shooting 10s, Maroney lost the bronze medal to New Zealand’s Michael Johnson, a long-time sporting nemesis.

Athens 2004 Paralympic gold medallist, Finland’s Minna Leinonen claimed gold by the smallest of margins in a nail-biting final, while Serbia’s world record holder Dragan Ristic took the silver.

Elsewhere, Ashley Adams (Blackall, QLD) made a dramatic entry into the R6 (50m Rifle Prone Mixed) finals mix with a perfect 10.9 on his final qualifying shot. Adams finished the R6 event in eighth place.

Adams placed 11th in the qualification round of his second event – R7 (50m Rifle 3 Positions Men), on a score of 1143, three points shy of a spot in the eight-person final.

72-year-old 11-time Paralympian Libby Kosmala (Keswick, SA) also finished in seventh place in the R2 (10m Air Rifle Standing) event, after qualifying for the finals with ease.

Pistol athlete Chris Pitt (Bundaberg, QLD) finished in 11th place, just missing the final in the P3 (25m Pistol Mixed) event, having recorded a good score of 560.

In the R3 (10m Air Rifle Prone Mixed) event, Aussies Ashley Adams and Anton Zappelli (Willagee, WA) finished in 12th and 13th place respectively, after the Qualifying Round, within 0.4 and 0.7 points of the eight-person final.

Luke Cain (Boneo, VIC) and Bradley Mark (Alexandra Hills, QLD) were best placed in the R4 (10m Air Rifle Standing Mixed) event, placing 18th and 24th respectively, after the qualifications. Maroney finished this event in 16th place, ahead of Cain and Mark.

Shooting Australia CEO Damien Marangon congratulated the team on their efforts.
“Making the finals at a World Championship is a great achievement, so well done to Ashley, Jason and Libby. The team fought hard and I applaud their dedication,” Marangon said.

Full results are available here

Shooting Australia is strongly supported by the Australian Government, through the AIS.

By Shooting Australia
Posted: 25/7/2014