Who made into the 2009 ISSF World Cup Final in Rifle and Pistol events? Check the list!
The ISSF World Cup Stage in Milan was the last chance to qualify for this year’s ISSF World Cup Final in Rifle and Pistol events, which will take place in China between October and November.
Who qualified for the World Cup Final in Rifle and Pistol events? Check the list here!
The ISSF World Cup in Rifle and Pistol events in Milan was closed today. China led the medal standings.
This year’s last world cup stage was the last chance to gain points and to qualify for the 2009 ISSF World Cup Finals. Check here who has qualified for the finals.
Milan’s medal standings
The People’s Republic of China won the medal standings of the last leg of the 2009 ISSF World Cup Series in Rifle and Pistol events held in Milan, Italy, by securing five Gold, two Silvers and two Bronze medals.
The Chinese representative was followed by Germany, which placed in second in the medal standings by shooting three Gold medals, especially thanks to the extreme performances of the Rifle shooter Sonja PFEILSCHIFTER, who claimed Gold in both the 50m Rifle three Positions and in the 10m Air Rifle women finals.
Switzerland and Australia tied in third place, with one Gold each. Australia relayed on his Rifle expert, the 44-year old Warren Potent, who grabbed his third gold medal of the season in the 50m Rifle Prone men competition, while Switzerland introduced a new shooter, the 19-year old GRUNDER, who shot the 10m Air Pistol Men’s Gold with an equalled junior world record.
The medal standings:
Nobody could stop Australia’s Warren Potent, who won his fourth consecutive world cup medal, his third Gold of the season, at the 50m Rifle Prone event, the closing competition of the 2009 ISSF World Cup stage of Milan.
The 47-year old shooter Olympic Bronze medallist of Beijing, shot today’s Gold medal with a total score of 702.4 points, after a qualification of 598 points and a final round of 104.4 points.
Potent has finished on the podium of each of this year’s four ISSF World Cup Stages, claiming three gold medals (in Changwon, Beijing and Milan) and a Bronze (Munich). Climbing the world ranking up to the second place, the Australian shooter also gained a qualification for this year’s ISSF World Cup Final, which will take place between October and November in China.
Norway’s Berg claimed Silver with the highest final
Following Potent, the 29-year old Norwegian finalist Vebjoern BERG placed in second securing today’s Silver medal with a total score of 701.7 points, climbing form the fourth place thanks to an extreme final score of 105.7 points (an average of almost 10.6 points per shot!). The Norwegian athlete, fourth at the last Beijing’s Games, had never won a world cup medal in this event, before.
Italy celebrates De Nicolo’s Bronze
Bronze went to the home shooter Marco DE NICOLO, 32-year old, coming form the outskirts of Milan. Supported by a number of spectators crowding Milan’s final hall, DE NICOLO walked into the final match with a qualification score of 597 points, and won Bronze with a final of 102.3 points an total score of 699.3 points.
DE NICOLO, who took the medal count of Italy up to 3 medals won within the frame of this world cup stage, was missing from an ISSF podium since the 2006 World Championships of Zagreb, where he had finished in third.
The People’s Republic of China kept on winning, grabbing a Gold medal at the last day of the ISSF World Cup in Rifle and Pistol events in Milan, Italy.
SHI, competing in pistol events since 1990, had never won an ISSF Gold medal in this event before. Coming back on the international scene this year, after missing since 2004, SHI Xinglong qualified for the 50m Pistol final rounds at the world cup stage of Changwon and Beijing, where he also secured a Gold and a Bronze medal in the 10m Air Pistol even.
Rashid YUNUSMETOV’s best season
Today’s 50m Pistol Men Silver medal went to the Kazakh shooter Rashid YUNUSMETOV, who placed in second with 659.6 points, winning his fourth medal of the season in this event. YUNUSMETOV, who has never won as much as in the last four months, qualified for the final rounds of each 2009’ ISSF World Cup Stage, winning a Gold medal in Beijing, a Bronze in Munich and today’s Silver medal. The 29-year old athlete, who had finished in 16th at the last Olympic Games of Beijing, is climbing the world ranking and candidates himself as one of the favourites for the next ISSF World Cup Final of November.
Bronze to Ukraine’s KUDRIYA
Serhiy KUDRIYA of Ukraine, 26, shot his first ISSF world cup medal today, as he claimed Bronze with 652.4 (558+94.4) points. Following him, the Silver medallist of the world cup stage in Munich, Damir MIKEC of Serbia, placed in fourth with 651.1 (560+91.1) points, while the first time finalist Susumu KOBAYASHI of Japan placed in fifth with 650.9 (559+91.9) points.
Taras MAGMET won Gold on the lines of Milan’s shooting range, his third medal won here in Italy. The Ukrainian shooter climbed from the fourth place, leaving behind him China’s ZHANG and Germany’s REITZ.
With a final score of 784.6 (584+200.6) points, MAGMENT won his first ISSF Gold medal, probably the best result of his shooting career.
MAGMENT seems to be used to finish upon Milan’s podium, after all. Throughout his 29-year long sport career, the Ukrainian shooter has only won three world cup medals (counting today’s gold), and he has pocketed all of these three medals here in Milan.
Probably suffering the heat of today’s Milan afternoon, the other five finalists did not shoot brilliant final scores.
Qualification’s leader, the Chinese shooter Jian ZHANG, 23, winner of a Bronze medal at the first 2009 ISSF World Cup stage, finished in second in spite of his initial 3-point head start on the followers. The Chinese shooter fired a disappointing final round of 193.1 points, finishing in second and securing Silver with a total score of 781.1 points.
Coming in third, Germany’s young champion, Beijing’s Bronze medallist Christian REITZ, 22, finished in third place grabbing Bronze with a total score of 780.0 (582+198.0) points.
Beijing’s Olympic Champion Oleksandr PETRIV, who turned out to be very disappointed by his final of 195.9 points, finished in fourth place with a total score of 779.9 points. The three-time Olympic Gold medallist Ralf SCHUMANN of Germany fired a final of 192.7 points, for a total score of 775.2 points, finishing in sixth place. Preceding him, USA’s Keith SANDERSON, who had claimed a medal in each of the three previous world cup stages this year, finished in fifth place with a final of 192.7 points, today’s lowest final score, and a total of 777.7 points.
