As you can see from the new name of the match, one of our goals this year was to attract even more international shooters to come to the match.
After all, one of the really great things about competing in IDPA is the possibility to join matches all over the world, make new friends and enjoy our passion together.
International Participation
The above goal was greatly supported by the long overdue lift of the ban of 9x19mm ammunition for civilians in Italy. Effective February 1, 2022 this ban was history! Since 9x19mm is by far the most popular caliber used by IDPA competitors all around the world, one barrier to participating in competitions in Italy was finally gone.
For European shooters, it is quite easy to travel to Italy - well, to any Schengen member country that is - and participate in a match. All that is needed is a match invitation and a valid European Firearms Passport. But what about shooters from other countries? How could they join our match and bring their own firearms and ammunition?
The process wasn't immediately clear but we were not ready to give up easily. With the tireless help of my co-MD Diego Silvestri, himself a police officer, and the border police at Malpensa airport we were able to define the correct process and the required documentation. With this hurdle taken, we also helped some of our shooters to get the necessary visas for travelling to Italy. Finally, all participants could join the match without problems and many thanks go to the Italian authorities for making this possible!
As a result, we had competitors coming from Thailand, Kenya, USA, Turkey and from a dozen European countries. This is a big success and we are very proud to have such a high international participation.
See what some of our participants from overseas have to say:
The Range
After the successful championship in 2021, we were back on the magnificent range of the 360ºDefense Formazione club in Arcisate, Italy. Many thanks for the opportunity to use this range and for the hospitality we enjoyed!
The Competition
Another goal for this year was to organize yet a bigger match. We decided to get the match sanctioned at level 3, extend to 20 competitor squads over 2 days, 6 staff squads on staff day and to shoot a total 12 stages including the equipment check. This allowed for a capacity of 230 participants, while still enabling an efficient match flow.
When designing the stages, we put a lot of emphasis on variety. We wanted the shooters to face a lot of challenges and to demonstrate many different shooting skills. We therefore put together a skills matrix and used it to check whether the stages offered enough variety. Here are some examples:
Start positions: standing, sitting, lying down, inside a car
Start conditions: holstered, at ready, on a table, unloaded, empty chamber
Shooting positions: standing, kneeling, prone, from cover (vertical and horizontal), through windows, through doors, from a wobbly platform
Shooting skills: freestyle, left handed, right handed
Targets: paper, reduced paper (blacked, hidden, covered by non-threat), swinger, up-down, turner, mover, steel
... and many more.
The stages had to be enjoyable for shooters of all skill levels. Masters needed to be still challenged, while novices should not be overwhelmed and become frustrated. Of course, there were some extremely difficult tasks to accomplish but those were strewn in exceptionally on some of the stages.
Our Staff
Of course, a bigger match also required more staff over more days. We ended up with almost 35 staff members that were present during a minimum of 3 days. The inner circle of staff helped building and cleaning up the stages and some of them were on the range working for the match for 7 days!
Only with this huge effort by the voluntary staff, such large events are even possible. Thank you to all staff for their many hours of preparation, stage building, running the competitors and finally cleaning up the range!
Our Sponsors
We are very happy and proud to have so many great sponsors that supported this championship!
Main Sponsors:
Sponsors:
Only with the support of our sponsors the match with that size and duration was made possible. Please consider them for all your needs around sports shooting!
The Results
Close to 200 competitors were ranked after they successfully completed the match. Here are the major winners per division and per category, along with the corresponding best Swiss shooters:
Division/ Category | Total Competitors | Rank | Competitor | Country |
BUG | 10 | 1 | Giovanni Funcis | IT |
| | 3. | Patrick Weibel | CH |
CCP | 19 | 1. | Lucian Cristea | RO |
| | 3. | Matthias Buch | CH |
CDP | 16 | 1. | Thomas Steiger | CH |
CO | 30 | 1. | Said Yusuf Çakir | TR |
| | 2. | Roman Berger | CH |
ESP | 50 | 1. | Florin Popescu | RO |
| | 18. | Tamas Illes | CH (HU) |
REV | 3 | 1. | Fiorluigi Locatelli | IT |
SSP | 63 | 1. | Andy Pfenninger | CH |
Lady | 14 | 1. | Cristina Cesaroni | IT |
| | 6. | Tanja Seiz | CH |
Senior | 74 | 1. | Andy Pfenninger | CH |
Dist. Senior | 10 | 1. | Nicola Rutigliano | IT |
Congratulation to all participants and thank you for a great match guided by sportsmanship, fairness and camaraderie!
What's Coming Next Year?
The planning for new and exciting matches in 2023 has already begun! Stay tuned and join us here and on facebook to stay updated!
Sincerely
Andy Pfenninger
Are you interested in IDPA ?
General information about IDPA: www.idpa.com
Information about IDPA in Switzerland: www.swissaaa.org/idpa-info