September 15, 2022 - From September 19 to October 12, Osijek's Pampas will be the centre of the World Championship Shotgun Shooting. 630 competitors from 77 countries will arrive in Osijek, including Olympians and the world's best shooters.

This was announced on Wednesday in Osijek's main square, where a press conference was held. The conference was attended by the mayor of Osijek Ivan Radić, the director of the competition organisation Zoran Ćelić, the president of the City Shooting Association - Osijek 1784 Zvonimir Kovačević, the president of the Croatian Shooting Association Hubert Kišpal, and the general secretary of the Osijek-Baranja County Sports Association Dubravko Ižaković.
Mayor Radić reminded that Osijek has a long history of shooting, dating back to 1774, when the first sports association in Croatia was founded.

Photo: Grad Osijek

"The first shooting range was put up at the beginning of the 19^th century in the Gradski Vrt hall, while Pampas was built in 1985. Two Olympians come from Osijek, 160 registered competitors and seven clubs, and this is a great opportunity to support this type of sport", said Radić. He pointed out that this summer in terms of tourism was a "complete success" for the city of Osijek.

"We achieved 12 percent more overnight stays than in the same month of the pre-pandemic year 2019, but also in the first eight months of this year. In terms of arrivals, we are better by as much as 55 percent compared to last year 2021. These figures certainly send a beautiful postcard of our city to the world and we have no doubt that this Championship will show that we are always good hosts", said the mayor of Osijek.

Director Ćelić believes that Croatia is one of the favourites this year, considering the medals won so far. He said that this competition is extremely important for achieving quotas for going to the Olympic Games in Paris, with 16 spots left in total.

Kovačević reported that competitors from 77 countries will perform in Osijek, including Olympians, while Kišpal added that there will be around 700 competitors, including 12 shooters from Croatia.

Ižaković pointed out that this is only one of the competitions that take place in the city and the county, and that the county and the city are happy to support the organisation of large sports events, and the shooters raise the level of tourism purely by being there.

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