The Croatian defeated the current world champion Erik Varga of Slovakia at the Valle Aniene Shotgun Range in Rome today, to reclaim the 2015 crown he won in Cypriot capital Nicosia. 

After they both qualified for the gold medal match in the Italian capital with an equal score of 14 hits in the semi-final, Cernogoraz took an early lead as Varga missed his second clay of the final.

It proved decisive as Cernogoraz went on to shoot a perfect score of 15 hits out of 15 targets, edging out Varga who only missed that pivotal one clay.

"Yesterday, during the first day of the trap competition, weather conditions were really challenging due to the wind and the light changes," Cernogoraz said.

"But today it was perfect and I am really happy with the final result.

"I won the World Cup series last season, and it’s great to keep the ISSF Globe also this year."

Four shooters were tied on 13 hits at the end of the semi-final but Poland’s Piotr Kowalczyk and Spain’s Antonio Bailon squeezed through to the bronze medal match following a shoot-off.

The Spaniard would go on to beat Kowalczyk 11-10 to win the bronze and join Cerogoraz and Varga on the podium.

Rio 2016 Olympic Champion Josip Glasnovic of Croatia was one of those who narrowly missed out on the bronze medal match and finished in fifth place.

The winner of this year’s World Cup stage in San Marino, Jiri Liptak of the Czech Republic, finished sixth.

The men’s trap final was the last competition of the 2016 ISSF Shotgun World Cup Final.

The 2017 season will begin with the first stage in New Delhi, India, with action scheduled for between February 22 and March 4.