Gian Marco Berti of San Marino upset the odds by clinching his nation’s first-ever ISSF World Cup title ©ISSF

Gian Marco Berti of San Marino upset the odds by clinching his nation’s first-ever International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup gold medal as he topped the men’s trap podium with victory over Slovakia's world champion Erik Varga at the Baku Olympic Shooting Range.

It proved to be a day full of surprises at the last World Cup event of the season in the Azerbaijani capital as 16-year-old Filip Nepejchal of the Czech Republic earned his maiden win at this level by securing the men’s 10 metre air rifle title.

In the other event to take place today, Ukraine’s Olena Kostevych, Olympic gold medallist at Athens 2004, reigned supreme in the women’s 10m air pistol competition.

Berti, ranked 90th in the world, hit 121 out of the 125 targets in qualification before he dropped 14 targets in the semi-final.

The shooter from San Marino then faced Varga in the final and both competitors managed 14 targets, forcing the gold medal decider into a shoot-off.

After they had each dropped nine targets, Berti hit the 10th but Varga missed, handing the crown to the unfancied Berti.

The bronze medal went the way of Poland’s 28-year old first-time finalist Piotr Kowalczyk, who beat France’s Herve Boivin, by 14 to 11 hits.

“Today’s is the match of my life,” Berti, who had never won a medal of any colour having recorded a previous best of 63rd, said.

“I am speechless.

“I can’t even realise how I made it.

“Going into the medal match against such an established champion like Varga, gave me the motivation to shoot at my best, to prove to myself that I can make it.”

Czech teenager Filip Nepejchal earned his maiden win at this level by securing the men’s 10 metres air rifle title ©ISSF
Czech teenager Filip Nepejchal earned his maiden win at this level by securing the men’s 10 metres air rifle title ©ISSF

Nepejchal also sealed a shock victory as he prevailed in the 10m air rifle event with a superb display.

He had shot into the spotlight by scoring higher than 2008 Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra of India and was able to carry that form through to the final, where he recorded a total of 206.8 points.

Iran’s Hossein Bagheri ended 0.6 points adrift on 206.2 to take the silver medal, while Israel’s 2013 European Champion Sergey Richter claimed bronze on 184.6 points.

Ukraine's Kostevych, the current world number one, laid down a marker ahead of Rio 2016 by comfortably winning the women’s 10m air pistol competition on 200.2 points.

Greece’s Anna Korakaki finished on 199.1 to end in second place behind the Ukrainian and Alejandra Zavala Vazquez of Mexico’s total of 175.9 was enough for the bronze medal.