Disappointment for Para-Shooters as they miss qualifying for Mixed Air Rifle Prone

Para-Shooters Anton Zappelli and Natalie Smith expressed their disappointment after falling short of making it through to the qualifying round of the R3 Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1 competition this morning.

Both Zappelli and Smith struggled to gain momentum in the highly competitive field with Zappelli finishing in 15th place with a score of 631.6 while Smith scored 621.7 to finish 46th.

The two time Paralympian who had hopes of performing his best is still feeling the effects of medication from a recent surgery and was bitterly disappointed with his performance.

“I’m not happy with my performance that’s for sure. I had an operation five weeks ago and the medication has been causing all sorts of issues,” said Zappelli.

“I fired good shots and then reset and then just wasn’t in the right position. It’s bizarre because I don’t have nerves or anything like that, I shoot and it looks like it should be in the tens but it’s not.

“If you had asked me six weeks ago I would have said I expect to make the finals for my events.”

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Today’s event also marked the end of Smith’s Tokyo campaign who after a good fight didn’t have the outcome she was hoping for.

“It definitely wasn’t one of the best day’s today. I started slow, took my time but just ended up with a few wild shots. I had to re think my game plan and obviously still tried to make a break but as the time went on I had to speed up a little bit,” said Smith.

While disappointed it hasn’t damped her drive for further honours.

“I’m going to pull my finger out and be back for the Paris games,” said Smith.

Zappelli’s life changed forever when his girlfriend at the time, who did not have a license, lost control and flipped the car while driving on a gravel road 75 kilometres northwest of Kalgoorlie, WA. While his girlfriend and her two sisters escaped without injury, Zappelli was left with traumatic injuries to his spinal cord and became a T11/T12 paraplegic.

“My fracture is known as a common seat belt fracture. The seatbelt saved me from going through the windscreen, but actually broke my back at the same time,” said Zappelli.

It took a long time for Zappelli to come to terms with his new life, feeling shattered by the loss of what he thought the future held.

“Before the accident, I knew where I was going in life. I was fairly determined, I had a plan, and felt lost because all of a sudden it was gone,” said Zappelli.

After relocating back to Perth he took up road racing and credits sport for turning his life around.

“It was sport that pulled me though, I had something to work towards, before I knew it I was training between four and six times a week,” said Zappelli.

A two week holiday to Broome turned into a five year lifestyle change when Zappelli joined the famous Australian folk band, The Waifs as a roadie, stringing and tuning guitars.

“I upset a lot of people in the sporting world back then, as they wanted me to come back and keep competing, but I wouldn’t change it for anything,” said Zappelli.

Following his stint on the road, he was looking for a new challenge and turned his sights to shooting.

Now based in Willagee, Zappelli is a father to twin boys and a girl and has since become one of Australia’s most established Para-Shooters winning bronze at the 2015 International Paralympic Committee Shooting World Cup in Osijek, Croatia and capturing a best result of 18th in the Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1 the following year at the 2016 Rio Games. In 2019 he won his first World Championship in Sydney when he took home a silver medal.

Zappelli will return to the range on Sunday to contest the R6 Mixed 50m Rifle Prone (10:30 AEST) while team mate Chris Pitt will line up again tomorrow to compete in the P3 Mixed 25m Pistol SH1 (09:45 AEST).

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By: Amanda Scott, Paralympics Australia
Posted: 1 September 2021