Morgan Craft wins women's skeet title and earns Rio 2016 berth at ISSF Shotgun World Championships

Morgan Craft overcame her team-mate Caitlin Connor to win women's skeet gold ©Twitter/ISSF

Morgan Craft emerged victorious in an all-American gold medal match in the skeet at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Shotgun World Championships in the Italian town of Lonato

The American finished joint top of the qualification round having hit 73 targets with only her compatriot Caitlin Connor able to match her score and the pair proved to be nearly inseparable throughout the duration of the tournament.

Both shooters finished level in the semi-final but they needed to overcome China’s Wei Ning in a shoot-off after the three competitors missed only one of the 16 targets.

In addition to the world title, the final would also decide the recipient of the a first berth in the American team for the Rio 2016 Olympics and with added incentive it would be the shooter who could cope best with the pressure who would emerge as the victor.

Craft proved able to deal with the situation better than her compatriot as with the final level heading into the final two shots the 22-year-old was able to hit both targets, while Connor was unable to respond, missing with her final shots to lose 15-13.

China's Wei Ning bounced back from losing a semi-final shoot-off to win bronze ©Twitter/ISSF

“Eight years ago I never thought I would be at this spot,” Craft said afterwards.

“This is what I worked for, what I believed I can do, for the last couple of years.

“I’m exactly where I want to be now, I just achieved my lifetime goal.”

The double Olympic silver medallist Ning bounced back from her defeat in the semi-final shoot-off to seal the final podium spot after the 33-year-old defeated Thailand’s Sutia Jiewchaloemmit 15-13 in the bronze medal match.

With Craft and Connor reaching the final of the individual event it was no surprise to see the United States win the team event as the pair joined forces with Kimberly Rhode to equal the world record of 215 clay targets.

Italy’s Katiuscia Spada, Diana Bacosi, Chiara Cainero finished three targets behind to take silver, while Ning earned her second bronze medal of the day after the Chinese team, which also included Wei Meng and Piao Piao Lin, hit 209 targets.