Gabala to host ISSF World Cup

/By AzerNews/

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan’s northern city of Gabala will host the ISSF World Cup to be held in the rifle, pistol, and shotgun shooting disciplines.

The event, which is scheduled for August 6-16, will be co-organized by Azerbaijan Shooting Federation and Gabala Shooting Club.

The tournament promises to be exhilarating, as it will bring together 2,000 best shooters from 100 countries.

The hallmark of the event is that 34 of the winning athletes will qualify to compete in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio.

The opening ceremony of the tournament will be held on August 7.

Last year Gabala also opened its doors to the 2014 International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup final, which gathered about 154 athletes from 39 countries.

Athletes from Russia finished on top with five gold, one silver, and one bronze medal at the tournament, followed by China and Germany.

The first qualified shooting range in the country was established in 1920, on Azerbaijan’s Nargin Island. At the time, the national athletes participated in a host of competitions, becoming champions of the European and world champions several times over.

Irada Ashumova won a bronze medal at XXVIII Olympic Games in Athens in 2004. In addition, she came in 2nd place in the small caliber pistol event at the 1998 World Championships in Barcelona and again in 2002 in Lahti, Finland.