Midnight Training Propels Inês Barros to Historic World Trap Final
The sight of a Portuguese flag fluttering at a shotgun range in Malakasa might not turn many heads abroad, yet for followers of clay-target sport at home it signals a quiet revolution. Inês Barros, still juggling university exams with training sessions that often finish after sunset, has barged into the World Championship conversation by climbing to the vice-lead in women’s trap qualifying, later securing a historic place in the final and ultimately finishing sixth. That leap from promising outsider to genuine contender is reshaping how Portugal thinks about an event normally dominated by bigger guns such as Spain, Italy and Poland.
A surge built on near-perfect mornings
The breakthrough materialised on the second day of qualifying at the ISSF World Championship Shotgun 2025, staged at the M.S.C. Malakasa Shooting Club some 50 km north of Athens. After opening in ninth, Barros uncorked back-to-back series of 24 and 25, smashing 49 of 50 clays and vaulting to 96/100 overall. That hot streak nudged her ahead of seasoned Olympians, leaving only Spain’s Mar Molné Magrina on 97. Portuguese coaches credit the jump to winter sessions in Santarém where Barros refined her hold point and shortened the time between mount and trigger pull, an adjustment that shaved critical milliseconds off each shot. The change paid off when swirling Aegean gusts unsettled several heavyweights while Barros kept her beads steady.
Sudden-death drama sets the final grid
Qualifying in shotgun sports is unforgiving: scores reset once the top six step onto the final layout. Barros needed one more flash of composure in a late-evening shoot-off against Poland’s Sandra Bernal after both closed on 120 hits across five rounds (23-24-24-25-24). Under floodlights she miscued her fourth target, conceding lane four. Even so, the 24-year-old became the first Portuguese woman to reach a World Championship trap final, eclipsing the prior best of seventh. The decider itself was short-lived for her—17 broken targets from the opening 25 saw her eliminated first—but the mere fact of lining up beside reigning European and Olympic medallists rewrites Portugal’s record books.
Podium locked by Iberian firepower
Once Barros bowed out, the Spanish-Italian-Polish trio seized the stage. Mar Molné Magrina captured gold with an ice-cold 41-hit run, Italy’s Silvana Stanco pocketed silver and Sandra Bernal salvaged bronze. Observers noted the Spaniard’s win keeps the women’s trap title in Iberian hands for a second straight cycle, underscoring why Barros’s rise matters domestically: she is now Portugal’s closest bridge to that elite group. The performance also throws a spotlight on the gulf in resources; Spain’s federation dispatched a 25-strong support team, while Portugal managed just one coach, a physio and a volunteer armourer.
An underfunded sport finds a headline act
Portugal’s clay-target scene is tiny—fewer than 300 licensed competitors nationwide—and ammunition costs topping €100 per 250-round case deter newcomers. Barros has spoken candidly about shouldering those costs alongside tuition fees: “I’m learning to be kinder to myself,” she said after qualification, referring to the double burden of sports and studies. The federation’s 2025 plan earmarks broad support for high-performance shooters, yet stops short of detailing individual budgets. Barros’s splash therefore provides timely leverage as officials lobby the Instituto Português do Desporto e Juventude for extra funding during the new Los Angeles 2028 Olympic cycle. How many quota places this World Championship will allocate remains under ISSF review, but insiders expect at least two per gender—prizes Portugal has never captured in shotgun.
Mixed-team title defence and the long runway to 2028
Barros’s campaign is not over. She reunites with veteran João Paulo Azevedo to defend the mixed-trap crown they snatched two years ago, a final flourish that could add another line to Portugal’s modest medal ledger. Beyond Malakasa, the calendar swings to European Championships in Osijek next spring, followed by a string of Grand Prix events where Olympic quotas are likely to crystallise. Barros already sits within striking distance of the top 15 in the world ranking, granting her wildcard invitations and, more crucially, belief. If she keeps turning late-night practice rounds into tournament milestones, the quiet revolution hinted at this week may echo all the way to Los Angeles.