10m Air Pistol Man – China claimed two spots on the podium
China’s SHI Xinglong, 32, won gold at the 10m Pistol Men medal match at the second stage of the ISSF World Cup Series held in Beijing.
SHI shot 683.0 points (582+101.0), climbing from the fifth place to win his second medal in this event, after the Bronze he secured at the first leg of the ISSF World Cup Series in Changwon, Korea, last week.
Shi’s team-mate MAI Jiajie, 21-year old, followed his older team-mate on the podium by shooting silver with 682.8 points (582+100.8). The young athlete won several junior awards, like a bronze at the 2006 ISSF World Championships of Zagreb and a gold at the 2007 Asian Championships, but he had never made into the senior team to compete in a world cup before.
The long experienced 38-year old shooter Yury DAUHAPOLAU finished on the podium grabbing Bronze at the last shot with a total score of 682.5 points (583+99.5). Belarus’ pistol champion came from a fourth place at the European Championships, held last February in Prague, and gave his best to secure a spot on the podium here in Beijing. Starting in second place after the qualifications, he shot neck and neck against the two Chinese team-mates right to the end. An unlucky shot, an 8.7 fired on his ninth competition shot, pushed him in third place, where he closed the match only 3 tenths behind China’s Mai.
Rashid YUNUSMETOV, the Kazakh shooter who won the 50m Pistol event held two days ago, made into his second consecutive medal match. His qualification score of 581 points, and a final of 98.0 points, stopped him in eight place.
Germany’s Patrik LENGERER, 27, finished the first final round of his career in fourth place with 681.5 pts (585+96.5). He was followed by Russia’s Vladimir GONTCHAROV, fifth with 680.6 pts (582+98.6), and by Pavol KOPP of Slovakia, sixth with 680.5 pts (582+99.5). Denis KOULAKOV, the second Russian shooter, placed seventh with 680.2 pts (581+99.2).
