Georgia claims first medal at European Shooting Championship

Georgia has claimed its first medal at the European Shooting Championship in Hungary.

Georgia’s female shooter Nino Khutsiberidze finished second in the 10m Air Pistol Junior Women’s competition, closely behind France's gold medal winner Mathilde Lamolle.

Khutsiberidze ended her competition after gaining a total of 193.7 points against Lamolle's 198.4, with Denisa Bezdecna of the Czech Republic place third with 174.9 points.

Georgia's three-time Olympic medal winner Nino Salukvadze will represent her country at the European Championship on Saturday. Photo from www.eley.co.uk.

Khutsiberidze took the silver medal on Wednesday, February 24 on the third day of competition.

She was one of three junior athletes competing in the tournament, held in the Hungarian city of Gyor. The other junior shooters were Vladislav Maiorovi and Kako Mosulishvili.

The senior competitors began their tournament on Thursday, February 25.

The Georgian men's senior team consisted of two shooters – Levan Kadagidze and Tsotne Machavariani - who both ended their competition without a medal.

Georgia still hoped to gain more medals tomorrow on the final day of competition when Lizi Kiladze and three-time Olympic medal winner Nino Salukvadze compete in the Senior Women’s section.

Winners of the senior categories will be offered a license to compete at the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil. However this does not concern Salukvadze as she has already booked her spot for this year’s Olympics.

In total 599 athletes from 47 countries participated in 16 individual and 16 team shooting events at the 10m European Championship.