Stara Zagora archers won gold, bronze and qualification for Europe

11 clubs with a total of 102 competitors participated in the “Stoyan Penchev” State shooting tournament from April 19 to 21, which was held in Stara Zagora under the “Children and Sports Club 2024” Program of the Ministry of Youth and Sports. The tournament is named after the legendary competitor and coach Stoyan Penchev, who left a bright mark on the development of this beautiful sport in Stara Zagora.

The competition was held with both air and small arms.

Among the athletes of the “Augusta” Sport Shooting Club in Stara Zagora, Maria Atanasova performed best, with a pistol at 25 m in the 30-shot precision plus 30-shot rapid fire exercise. She also won the first place with 562 points. Atanasova’s achievement is a confirmed standard for participation in the upcoming European Championship in Croatia in a month.

The other strong competitor of the Staro Zagorsk club – Monika Petrova entered the final in 4th place with 541 points with a pneumatic pistol, but managed to fight for the bronze medal. On a small caliber pistol, Monika Petrova achieved a personal best result in the 30+30 exercise and once again won. In her first participation with a pistol at 50 m, Petrova placed 6th with 480 t.

Martin Stanchev with a pneumatic pistol among the juniors won the gold with 546 points, and in the exercise 30+30 he won bronze. In the rapid shooting of five targets, Stanchev remained in 4th place because of the cartridges’ misfires.

The new hope with a rifle of the Stara Zagorje club Veselin Topchiev won the gold in both disciplines – air rifle with 369.2 t, and with small-caliber from the prone position with 289.4 t.

Maria Polikhronova with the pneumatic pistol improved her personal result and with 349 points remained in 4th place. “We still have a lot to work on with the small-caliber pistol, so that Maria Polikhronova can reach the prize rankings,” commented the coach and chairman of the club, Georgi Kocherenko. “Two new girls – Antoaneta Trifonova and Donika Dimitrova, have started their competition training and I hope they will be ready for the State Championship at the end of June with a small caliber pistol”, added Kocherenko.

For girls with rifles, Gabriela Teneva is the new representative of the Staratsagor shooters.