Illustration photo – Czech rifleman Petr Nymburský (three-position small rifle).
Tallinn – Eight spots for the Paris Olympics will be up for grabs at the upcoming European Air Sport Shooting Championships in Tallinn. In each of the four final disciplines – men's and women's rifle and pistol – two will be divided. The championship is also a qualifying competition for this year's European Games in Krakow.
Advertisement'; }
In the Czech team, riflemen Petr Nymburský and Jiří Přívratský, who already won one last year, will compete in the Estonian capital without the possibility of fighting for the Olympic “quota”. František Smetana, Radek Mikulčík and Filip Nepejchal and the female quartet Aneta Brabcová, Lucie Brázdová, Sabina Thurnwaldová and Nikola Foistová will also be at the start.
The pistol nomination consists of Jindřich Dubový, Pavel Schejbal and Veronika Schejbalová. The Czech Federation sent eleven athletes to the junior competitions, including rifle shooter Veronika Blažíčková, who shot silver among senior women at the EC in Wrocław last year and a place at the Olympics in three-position rifle shooting.
The first finals are scheduled for Tuesday in Tallinn junior disciplines, the championship will last until March 14, and seniors and juniors will share ten sets of medals each – in addition to individual disciplines, there will also be competitions for (three-member) teams and mixed (two-member) teams.
Individual competitions can be entered up to five representatives from one country, but only three can aim to advance from the qualifiers. The others will fight outside the competition “only” for points in the world ranking, and their possible placement among the eight advancing teams will go to the next scorer in the overall ranking. Nepejchal, Nymburský and Foistová have such status in the Czech nomination.
