Archerfish.org

Sergei Pyzhianov is a former Soviet pistol shooter. During the last few years of the Soviet Union’s dominance, he was a major star on the pistol team. Although never an Olympic champion, he did win the ISSF World Shooting Championships three times: in 1986 (50 metre pistol), 1989 (10 metre air pistol) and 1990 (25 metre center-fire pistol). In 1989, he also won the first ISSF World Cup Final with the new air pistol targets, setting two new world records after 593 points in the qualification round and 102.1 points in the final round. Both these records remain unbeaten.

Current world records held in 25 metre center-fire pistol
Men (ISSF) Teams 1762 Soviet Union (Ignatiuk, Kuzmins, Pyzhianov) August 15, 1990 Moscow (URS)

Current world records held in 25 metre standard pistol
Men Teams 1725 Soviet Union (Kuzmins, Melentiev, Turla) September 10, 1985 Osijek (YUG)
Soviet Union (Basinski, Kuzmins, Pyzhianov) September 8, 1986 Suhl (GDR)

Current world records held in 10 metre air pistol
Men Qualification 593 Flag of the Soviet Union Sergei Pyzhianov (URS) October 13, 1989 Munich (FRG)
Final 695.1 Flag of the Soviet Union Sergei Pyzhianov (URS) (593+102.1) October 13, 1989 Munich (FRG)

Born: 21 January 1910

Deceased: 5 January 1976

Birthplace: Budapest (Hungary)

Nationality: Hungary

Sport: Shooting

ATTENDANCE AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES

London 1948

Helsinki 1952

Melbourne / Stockholm 1956

AWARDS

Olympic medals:

Gold: 2

Other results:

World Championships

Gold: 1 (39)

The Right-Handed Shooter Who Won With His Left Hand

Karoly Takacs was a member of the Hungarian pistol shooting team in 1938 when, while serving as a sergeant in the army, a defective grenade exploded in his right hand – his pistol hand -and shattered it completely.

After spending a month in the hospital, Takacs secretly taught himself to shoot with his left hand. The following year he won the Hungarian pistol shooting championship and was a member of the Hungarian team that won the automatic pistol event at the world championships.

The next two Olympics, in 1940 and 1944, were cancelled because of war, but in 1948 Takacs qualified for the Hungarian Olympic team in the rapid-fire pistol event. He was 38 years old. Before the competition, the favorite, world champion and world record holder, Carlos Enrique Díaz Saenz Valiente, asked Takacs why he was in London. Takacs replied, “I’m here to learn.”

Takacs won the gold medal and beat the world record by ten points. During the medal ceremony, Díaz Saenz Valiente, who finished second, turned to Takacs and said, “You have learned enough.” Four years later in Helsinki, Takács successfully defended his Olympic title to become the first repeat winner of the rapid-fire pistol event.

Ralf Schumann (born June 10, 1962) is a German 25 m Rapid Fire Pistol shooter. He is a three-time Olympic Champion and twice World Champion.

Born in Meissen in Saxony, he took on pistol shooting in 1977 and was eventually trained at the East German national shooting arena in Suhl, Thuringia. He has on several occasions been voted the athlete of the year in Thuringia. He now lives in nearby Stockheim, Bavaria.

His international breakthrough came in the years before the Seoul Olympics in 1988, where he was considered the most likely winner. However, he was beaten by Afanasijs Kuzmins of the Soviet Union (later Latvia) by 598 to 597 in the qualification round, and was never allowed to come back in the finals, Kuzmins performing a perfect 100. (In an interview, Ralf quoted his young son’s reaction: “Daddy, why didn’t you win?”)

After this, the targets were changed, lowering results considerably, but Schumann’s hegemony has only increased. He won the 1990 World Championships and the 1992 Olympics. He performed 596 on several occasions before raising the World Record to 597 in 1995 and equalling it in 2000. After the major rule change in 2005, he once again acquired the World record, now of 588 points (later the same year bettered by Sergei Alifirenko). He also held the pre-2005 final World Record and the Olympic records (from 1996), excelling in the four-second final shooting.

Being the favourite in every competition he enters, it is natural that his failures to win have received some attention. Most notable among these is his performance in the Sydney Olympics in 2000, when at the prospect of winning his third Olympic gold medal (something no RFP shooter before has managed) he only finished fifth. However, his results since then have proved that this was not the beginning of a long-term decline, and in the Athens Olympics in 2004, he finally got his third Olympic gold after yet another excellent final.

The American shooter Matthew EMMONS falls back into Athens nightmare. EMMONS lost Gold in today’s 50m Rifle Three Positions Men Final by scoring a last shot of 4.4 points, mirroring what had happened four years ago at the Games of Athens, where he had fired his last shot on the wrong target.
Gold went to the Chinese QIU, who had never won a Gold before “I have been a little bit lucky, today” he said, winning the fifth Gold in shooting sports for China, in these Games.

Only EMMONS can beat EMMONS in the 50m Rifle Three Positions Event. It had happened four years ago at the Games, when the 27-year old American shooter cross-fired hitting the wrong target and loosing Gold. It happened again today: EMMONS, leading with more then 3 points of advantage after the ninth final shot, fired an unbelievable shot of 4.4 points on his last shot, falling out of the podium and landing in fourth place.
Nobody else could beat him, today. He had started in second, climbing up in first after that the qualifications leader DEBEVEC had fired two poor shots in seventh. EMMONS kept shooting with the highest average, building up a consistent advantage, right up to the ninth shot.
When everybody though that he was going to become the new Olympic Champion and to grab that Gold waiting for him since Athens, EMMONS pressed the trigger to early, scoring that 4.4.
“I didn’t feel my finger shaking, but I guess it was – said Emmons right after the fatal mistake – I realized it went off and I hoped it made into the black. I call it a freak of nature; If I have made it into the bull’s eye, it would have been great…”
The American shooter landed in fourth place, followed live by his wife Katerina, commenting the match for a Czech Television “To shot 4.4 in final and still finish in fourth place… that’s pretty damn good!” said EMMONS “My performance in Athens final kind of got shooting on the map. This is just another crazy thing that will bring shooting some attention.”
“What happened today I think will keep him going, keep him determined and he will be more experienced. This will keep him pointed in the right direction” commented EMMONS wife Katerina, the first medallist of the 2008 Olympic Games.
“That medal still waiting for me, I will run for the 2012 Games” announced EMMONS, who had expressed his intention to take some time off from shooting after Beijing, three days ago. “The Emmons’ team reached three medals here in China, we will be back for more!”

While EMMONS was falling into Athens nightmare, the 50m Rifle Three Positions Event Gold medal went to the Chinese shooter QIU Jian, a 33-year old athlete who had never won a Gold medal in this event before, surely not the most favourite to finish on an Olympic podium. QUI looked surprised himself about his placement “I have to admit I have been a little bit lucky!” commented QUI, who finished in first with a total score of 1272.5 (1173+99.5) points.
QUI won the fifth Gold medal for China in shooting sport in this Olympic edition, helping to better the result of four Golds reached by the Chinese team at the last Games of Athens.

EMMONS mistake also gave a spot on the podium to Rajmond DEBEVEC of Slovenia, the 2000 Olympic Champion of Sydney and probably the most successful shooter ever in this event. DEBEVEC placed in third, winning Bronze with 1271.7 (1176+95.7) points.
The Slovenian shooter had started in first place after the qualifications, with one point of advantage on EMMONS, but lost his front position by scoring two shots in seventh ring in the first three shots.
“When I won the Games of Sydney I knew I was the best shooter of the World. I went there thinking that nobody could beat me. Today has been different – commented the 45-year old DEBEVEC – I felt the pressure. I started with two sevens… Then I relaxed a little bit, I changed my positions, and I started firing good shots…” The Slovenian champion grabbed the medal by closing his round with a 10.8, an excellent shot “… the opposite of what happened in Athens, where I had lost a medal by a few tenths, firing an 8 as last shot…”

(BEIJING, September 7) — Valeriy Ponomarenko of Russia won gold in the Men’s P1-10m Air Pistol SH1, breaking the qualification and final world records.

Ponomarenko’s 578 points in the qualification round gave him a nine-point lead over second-ranked compatriot Sergey Malyshev, who eventually won the silver medal. “I have prepared carefully for three years. I made a lot of effort and it helped me get the result,” commented Ponomarenko on his record-making qualification performance.

Ponomarenko shot a amateurish 8.3 with his first shot in the final, an even more disappointing 8.1 with his seventh shot and two shots of less than nine, but his final score of 672.4 still created a new world record.

“I never thought that I would be the champion as I did very badly in my training yesterday. However, I attended the Opening Ceremony yesterday and it excited me. This may have contributed to my success today. I am so glad,” said Ponomarenko.

Despite an 8.5 with his first shot, Malyshev managed a ten and two shots higher than ten to reduce the deficit between him and Ponomarenko to 6.6.

“My first shot only scored 8.5 points, so I felt a bit nervous after that shot. However, I was still very satisfied with my performance today,” said Malyshev. It was his first medal in the Paralympic Games.

Lee Ju-hee of the Republic of Korea won the bronze medal with 664.6 points. Lee looked like he was out of medal contention after he scored only 7.6 points on his eighth shot, but he held his nerve and scored 10.7 points on his last shot, propelling himself to third place.

Local favorite and defending champion in this event, Li Jianfei of China finished sixth. He came close to medal contention after his seventh shot, but scored only 8.1 on his last shot, which ended his chances of winning a medal.