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The People’s Republic of China won seven medals, placing in first in the overall medal standings of this ISSF World Cup. Korea and USA followed in second and third place.

The first 2010 ISSF World Cup Stage in Rifle and Pistol events was closed today in Sydney, Australia. Here, athletes coming from all over the world competed in the ten Olympic events of Rifle and Pistol shooting from the 20th through the 27^th of March.

The competition, which was held at the 2000 Olympic Shooting Range of Sydney, saw the success of the Chinese team, that finished in first in the overall medal standings with four Gold, one Silver and two Bronze medals, for a total of seven awards.

The Korean team followed in second place, claiming two Gold, one Silver and Bronze medals. The USA’s shooting team also secured four medals: one Gold, one Silver and two Bronzes, taking the third spot on the overall medal standings of the World Cup stage.

The Medal Standings:

The next appointment with the ISSF World Cup Series is set for April when, from the16th through the 25th, Rifle, Pistol and Shotgun shooters will meet at the 2008 Olympic Shooting Range of Beijing to participate in a combined World Cup Stage.

The Rapid Fire Pistol event was ruled by the Chinese team, that placed three athletes on the podium. India was represented in the final by two shooters.

It was China’s day today, at the ISSF World Cup in Rifle and Pistol events in Sydney. The Chinese team ruled the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol men event, placing three athletes on the podium to win Gold, Silver and Bronze.

It was a new face to win the Gold medal. Li Yuehong, 20-year old, today’s youngest finalist, had never participated in an ISSF international competition, before. The young shooter took the second spot on the start list thanks a qualification score of 580 points, placing him four points behind his expert teammate Jian Zhang.

Shooting four great series, Li scored 201.4 points throughout the final, first tying and than overtaking Zhang, and ended up in first place with a total score of 781.4 points which gave him the Gold medal.

Missing more than usual, the ISSF World Cup Silver medallist of Milan 2009 Zhang Jian scored 191.9 points throughout today’s final series. Since the first series, when he scored twice in the eighth ring, he lost his margin over Li Yuehong, sliding then down in second place. The 24-year old athlete eventually won Silver with a total score of 775.9 points.

The two Chinese shooters were reached on the podium by their titled teammate Zhang Penghui, 32-year old, from Nanjing. The 2006 World Champion qualified for the match in fourth place with 577 points, and scored 194.2 points during the final, ending up in third place with a total of 771.2 points to win his twelfth World Cup medal since 1998.

The final round was than closed by a shoot-off between the two Indian teammates Gurpreet Singh and Pemba Tamang, who had closed the round with an equal score of 767.7 points. It was the 22-year old Singh to win the duel for the fourth spot by shooting-off Tamang 50.9 to 47.1 points.

The American shooter started the news season in the best possible way, coming back to victory just a few months after securing a Gold medal at the 2009 ISSF World Cup Final in Wuxi.

The Olympic medallist of Athens and Beijing Matthew Emmons of the USA won today’s 50m Rifle Three Positions Men event at the ISSF World Cup in Sydney, Australia, the first stage of this year’s ISSF World Cup Series in Rifle and Pistol events.

The winter break did not affect the scores of Emmons: he had concluded the 2009 season in first, by winning the ISSF World Cup Final in Wuxi, and after a the winter break he came back to ISSF competitions as strong as ever. The 28-year old American sharpshooter, currently leading the world rank in this event, kept up with his fans’ expectations claiming the first Gold medal of the season with a total score of 1272.6 points, and leaving his opponents far behind him.

Making it into the final in second place with 1170 points, Emmons climbed in the lead with an excellent final of 102.6 points, the highest score of the round, overtaking Austria’s Mario Knoegler to finish on the highest step of the podium.

“It was challenging. Standing hasn’t been easy, today. I was not as confident as I would like to be.  I did a lot of work to calm myself down, to shoot the best shots that I could, and fortunately that turned out to be ok!” Emmons said after the match.

Austria’s Mario Knoegler, 30, secured Silver with a total score of 1270.0 points, his second medal in this World Cup stage, following the Bronze he had won at the Air Rile match five days ago. Qualified with 1170 points, Knoegler lost two precious points on his fifth competition shot, when he fired a disappointing 8.1 that landed him in second place.

Bronze went to the “2009 Shooter of the Year” Peter Sidi of Hungary, who climbed all the way up from the fourth place by shooting 102.4 points during the final round. The 31-year old Hungarian shooter climbed upon the podium with a total score of 1268.4 points, grabbing his second World Cup Bronze in this event seven year after the 2003 World Cup Stage in Fort Benning.

The six time Olympian from Serbia came back to victory in the 25m Pistol Women event at the Olympic Shooting Range of Sydney. Australia’s hopes Yauhleuskaya and Ryan finished in fourth and sixth.

Serbia’s five time Olympic medallist Jasna Sekaric came back on the highest step of an ISSF podium by winning today’s 25m Pistol Women event at the ISSF World Cup in Rifle and Pistol events in Sydney, Australia. This wasn’t the first time that she competed here: on the lines of this venue she had won a 10m Air Pistol Silver medal during the 2000 Olympic Games, and probably experience played a determinant role in today’s victory.

Entering today’s final round solydly in the lead with 585 points, Sekaric did not shoot at her best during the final match, scoring 197.2 points throughout the four final series. Thanks to her 3-point head start, she managed her margin over the followers, finishing in first place with a total score of 782.2 points.

“I haven’t been training that much because we don’t have a indoor range in Serbia. Therefore I was a little bit nervous, you have probably seen it during the final.” Sekaric said after the round.

The 44-year old shooter had won her last World Cup Gold in this event in 2008, at the pre-Olympic World Cup in Beijing. The Serbian sharpshooter, competing in each edition of the Olympics since 1988, has won an impressive record number of 59 World Cup medals in her successful sport career.

Silver went to the 22-year old Russian shooter Anna Mastyanina, competing in her first final, today. The young shooter, ranked 53 in the world, grabbed her best results ever here in Sydney, claiming the Silver medal with a total score of 781.2 points, after scoring of 199.2 in the final.

Just two tenths of a point behind her, Korea’s Boo Soon Hee secured Bronze with 781.0 points. The 42-year old finalist, an Olympic veteran of Seoul, Atlanta and Sydney, had won her last World Cup medal in 1994, in Munich. Entering today’s match in eight an last place, with the lower qualification score of 577 points, she climbed upon the podium by shooting today’s highest score in the final: 204.0 outstanding points.

Today’s turned out to be a great event also for the host country, Australia, as two Australian shooters made it to the final round, ranking in fourth and sixth place. Lalita Yahuleuskaya turned out to be a little bit unlucky, as she missed the podium by 0.7 points finishing in fourth with a total score of 780.3 points. Her teammate Linda Ryan, an Olympians of Sydney 2000’s Games, understandably felt the home court pressure, losing the third spot she had on the start list to end up in fifth place with 778.6 points.

The Chinese shooter left no chances t her opponents, ending up on the highest step of the podium with more than one point of margin on the followers. Australia’s Van Nus made it into her first ISSF World Cup final round in front of the home supporters.

The 2005 ISSF World Cup Final winner, China’s Wu Liuxi, secured Gold at today’s 50m Rifle Three Positions Women event, securing Gold with a total score of 681.3 points.

After entering the final round in the lead with 584 points, the 25-year old Chinese athlete (an Olympic Finalist of Beijing 2008) shoot solidly scoring 97.3 points in the final, claiming her first Gold of the season.

While Wu was getting closer and closer to the Gold medal, the crowd following the match at the Sydney Olympic Shooting Range cheered up for the home shooter Robyn Van Nus, 27, who had never made into an ISSF World Cup final round, before. The Australian athlete had made into the final in second spot with a qualification score of 583 points. Understandably nervous for her first final, she dropped a couple of shots in the eighth ring, ending up in fourth place, just a few tenths far from the podium, with a total score of 678.0 points.

“I’d never made a World Cup final and to do so in front of my home crowd on my training range was a fantastic experience for me,” Van Nus said. The 27-year old athlete has just moved to Sydney, and started training year four weeks ago.

“I was disappointed with my performance in the final but I can take a lot of encouragement out of today’s match. I will take part in the next ISSF World Cup in Fort Benning (USA) next May.” Concluded the home shooter.

The Silver medal went to the 25-year old Olympic Finalist of Beijing Jamie Beyerle of USA, who claimed her second medal in this World Cup stage following the Bronze she had won at the 10m Air Rifle Women event two days ago.

Bayerle entered the final round in fourth with 579 qualification points, moving then in the lead by shooting outstandingly in the final, 101.2 points, today’s highest final score, securing the medal with a total of 680.2 points.

“Today it was quite a difficult day for me, actually! I have been working a lot on my Prone, and I was quite satisfied by the prone round, today. But the conditions for the Standing are quite tricky here in Sydney…But of course I am happy about today’s final!” Said the American shooter right after the final.

“Now I will take part in some selection match for the ISSF World Championship, back home” Bayerle added, speaking at the ISSF TV microphones.

Today’s Bronze was won by Croatia’s Olympic Bronze medalist Snjezana Pejcic, 27-year old, who ended up on the third step of the podium with a total score of 678.7 (579+99.7) points.

Following Australia’s Van Nus, the second Chinese finalist Liu Bo closed the round in fifth with 677.6 points, preceding Malaysia’s Nur Suryani Modh Taibi, sixth with 679.1 points.

The seventh and eighth spots in the final were taken by Switzerland’s Annik Marguet, 28, and by Japan’s first time finalist Aeiko Iwata, 29, with 672.7 and672.4 points respectively.