With the oldest weapons at the World Championship: Bejdić and Skomorac secured Paralympic quotas

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Ervin Bejdić and Zerina Skomorac, Bosnian-Herzegovinian competitors in Para Shooting, have secured appearances at the Paralympic Games, which will be held next year in the Japanese capital Tokyo.

Bejdić confirmed this for the Patria agency, noting that this is one of the greater achievements in Paralympic sport in BiH.

“I won quotas for participation in two disciplines at the Paralympic Games. No one in BiH has achieved this yet. I broke two national records, secured two norms for the Paralympic Games and one quota in my name for direct participation. Zerina Skomorac secured a direct quota in the rifle competition, prone, 60 shots. I secured my participation in the Games in the disciplines P1 pistol, 10 meters air and P4, 50 meters MK, which is the toughest competition. In the P3 competition, 25 meters rapid fire, I could not participate because I did not have a pistol,” says Bejdić for Patria. 

The World Championship in Para Shooting was held in Sydney. 50 direct quotas for the Paralympic Games were distributed, and 300 competitors from 58 countries participated.

We remind you that the Patria agency published a story about Bejdić at the end of July, specifically about his disqualification from the World Cup in Zadar, due to irregularities with a worn-out pistol. 

Paralympian from BiH Ervin Bejdić disqualified due to a 15-year-old pistol

“I competed with old pistols. The air pistol is 15 years old, and the MK is 40 years old. With the oldest pistols we secured participation in the Paralympic Games,” adds Bejdić. 

Bejdić is outraged by the state's attitude towards athletes and their achievements. 

“Representatives of 58 countries congratulated us, but from BiH no one even called to ask what happened. I secured quotas for Bosnia and Herzegovina, because our country's name is now on the list. We came to the competition without preparations. The suitcase with ammunition that was tested for our weapons went astray, it hasn't arrived to this day. We had to buy ammunition in Australia that wasn't tested, and we were the first to secure quotas in our region. Croatia, for example, doesn't have a single quota,” said Bejdić. 

He states that he and Skomorac achieved 99 percent of what they planned. 

“After I was disqualified in Zadar due to a malfunction of the air pistol, we did some minor servicing and with it I competed in Sydney and achieved the norm. That pistol cannot do more than this result. Even a Fićo drives, but it can't race in Formula 1. Everyone comes with electronic pistols a year old, and I with that mechanical pistol achieve the quota. It's a pain when you expect at every moment whether it will fail. Our opponents couldn't believe what weapons we were competing with,” concluded Bejdić.