2018 shooting Para sport Worlds: What you need to know

This year is not only a World Championships year for hundreds of shooters, but also the beginning of the qualification process toward the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

The 2018 World Shooting Para Sport Championships will take place from 1-12 May in Cheongju, South Korea. It will be the first event where athletes can secure quota places for their countries at Tokyo 2020.

Around 300 shooters from 60 countries are expected to compete.

The 2002 World Championships were held in Seoul, South Korea, and attracted 211 athletes from 36 countries. The last Worlds took place in Suhl, Germany, in 2014. Nearly 250 athletes from 50 countries competed for titles, with South Korea topping the medals table with 10 gold, three silver and four bronze medals.

Here is a quick look at what is to come for shooters in their World Championships year:

Important events before Cheongju 2018…

Athletes still have two more major events where they can show off their form before Cheongju.

The World Cup in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, will take place from 19-28 March; and the Grand Prix in Szczecin, Poland, will follow from 11-14 April.

The Szczecin 2018 Grand Prix will be the last chance to earn 10m Minimum Qualifying Scores (MSQ) ahead of Cheongju 2018.

Last time out…

The last World Shooting Para Sport competition of 2017 in Bangkok, Thailand, saw United Arab Emirates’ Abdulla Sultan Alaryani finishing with a good feeling. The Rio 2016 Paralympic silver medallist shot two world records, one in the R6 (mixed 50m rifle prone SH1) and another in the R7 (men’s 50m rifle 3 positions SH1).

South Korea could expect to cheer on Jinho Park, who also was on target in Bangkok. The reigning R3 (mixed 10m air rifle prone SH1) world champion captured gold in the event in Bangkok, followed by another win in the R1 (men’s 10m air rifle standing SH1) in world-record fashion.

Last year also saw Slovakia’s Veronika Vadovicova maintain her form from Rio 2016, where she won the R2 (women’s 10m air rifle standing SH1) and R3 (mixed 10m air rifle prone SH1). Her most recent competition was the World Cup in Osijek, Croatia, where she left with two individual medals, including a win in the R2.

Vadovicova’s R2 rival Cuiping Zhang did not compete in 2017, but the Chinese shooter is expected to find success in Cheongju after finishing runner-up to her Slovakian counterpart at Rio 2016.

More information will be made available on the event website.