Croatian U-23 Shooters Shine in Wroclaw
Croatia returns from the European U-23 Championship with an impressive haul of medals, with 18-year-old Toma Tadić standing out with two medals.
Croatia returns from the European U-23 Championship with an impressive haul of medals, with 18-year-old Toma Tadić standing out with two medals.
Croatia's shooting team achieved remarkable success at the European U-23 Championship in Wroclaw, Poland, winning gold in the team trap event along with a series of individual medals. Although sources differ on the final tally, with Tportal reporting six medals and Index.hr reporting five, this in no way diminishes the outstanding impression.
The most prestigious medal went to the trio of Toni Gudelj, Leon Zegnal, and Mateo Zrinski, who became European champions in the team trap competition. The Croatian shooters were exceptionally accurate, hitting 347 out of 375 targets. This convincing performance left the runners-up a full six targets behind.
The remaining medals came in the 50m rifle three-position event. Anamarija Turk and Toma Tadić each won individual silver, while Darko Tomašević took bronze. Tomašević was the most precise in qualifying with 589 points, and Tadić moved up to second place in the final.
Anamarija Turk and Darko Tomašević also teamed up in the mixed pairs event, where they won another bronze. In the third-place match, they defeated the Polish duo of Gawenda/Goliszek 16:12.
Special attention was drawn to 18-year-old Toma Tadić, whose silver in the three-position was already his second medal of the championship. At the start of the competition, he won bronze in air rifle, and the silver medal eluded him by an incredibly small margin of 0.1 point.
This year's competition in Wroclaw, which runs until August 12, 2026, is the first standalone European Championship in the new U-23 format. It is designed as a stepping stone between junior and senior competition. A total of 307 shooters from 30 countries are participating, with medals awarded in as many as 38 events.
